Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
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posts/2011/01
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We made mini Samosa as a side dish for New Years Eve. For the most part, we just followed what we had done in the past but we used different spices because we were at my Dad's house. We made 3x the normal dough and cut it into 30 total.
The dough was the normal samosa/empanada dough (written up here).
I thought they were a bit over cooked. Also, the filling got a bit spicy due to too much . sriracha but I still liked it. We forgot onions so we used dried minced onions. On the bright side, for the first time, we did not over cook the potatoes first.
I do not know the exact points but each one had 1.2 points plus of dough then add the potatoes.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 846, 2011-01-01_200151
Empanada/Samosa Dough -- back to top
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 841, 2011-01-03_210904
Mexican Taco Stew and Roasted Potatoes -- back to top
Meredith found some good recipes on the Whole Foods Blog so we decided to give one a try (and we plan to do another one on Wed). The recipe is copied below.
We basically followed the recipe for the stew but added a jalapeno pepper, used hot salsa, used extra garlic, and used 93% lean beef instead of 85%. Also, we let it simmer for longer than stated. The points were rather low but I did not calculate them exactly. It made 3-4 servings easily.
Since we were cutting time a bit closer on the potatoes, we cubed them and then microwaved them for a bit to soften them. We seasoned them with the classic, parsley (dried), sage (dried), rosemary (dried) and thyme (fresh). I also added some salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Baked them on 400 for about 30 minutes.
See 2011-12-01 for Points plus
Mexican Taco Stew Recipe (from Whole Foods)
2014-01-07 Note: This has been added to My Recipe Book
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 853, 2011-01-03_225222
Beet Greens and Salmon Burgers -- back to top
We bought beets with greens and all so we decided to use the greens today. (We will use the beets later in the week). We sautéed the stems for about 5 minutes and then added the rest of the leaves. There were about 4 cloves of garlic. Also, we topped it with low fat feta.
The burgers were from Trader Joes. We did not have the normal ones but these were okay. They tasted more salmon tasting than the normal ones from Costco but they were fine (I do not love the taste of salmon alone). When we get a chance, we will buy the Costco ones again. We topped them with Trader Joes 21 Seasoning Salute (like Mrs. Dash). A note for next time with these burgers: they drip a lot. Make sure to have a drip cup underneath the griddler.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 858, 2011-01-05_085531
Peruvian Chicken and Roasted Beets -- back to top
The chicken was from the recipe below off of the Whole Food Blog. We halved it and made a few changes. We halved it and used 5 chicken tenders. ALso, I do not know what the exact type of paprika we used but it is the normal, innocuous kind. Also, I used olive oil. Since we did not have white wine vinegar, I used half white wine and half apple cider vinegar.
Since it is boneless, skinless, lean chicken, I did not bother basting it. Plus, all of the chicken was under a rather hefty layer of onion and peppers. A note for the future, to coat the chicken with the paste, I put them all in a bowel and used my hand. Same with the onions.
It was okay. Certainly not incredible. I felt like the seasoning was a bit strong on the outside but the chicken could have used some kind of marinading. The onions and peppers on top were really good!
The Beets were pretty easy. I was crunched for time so I cut off the stem and base, then I microwaved them for 3.5 minutes. I then sprayed them with olive oil pam and put them in aluminum foil and baked it with the chicken at 425.
They were not cooked enough but we ate to eat them anyway. Also, peeling them was not as easy as many sites say. I cooked one of them more in the microwave but it had already been peeled. It developed a secondary skin in the microwave. Still, they were good
There are some points from the olive oil but it is relatively small. So the points really are only from the chicken.Beets are zero
Points plus:
Chicken (~3-4 oz)...4
Peruvian Chicken (Recipe from Whole Foods)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 861, 2011-01-05_225425
Whole Wheat Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli & Mushroom Barley Soup -- back to top
We made the ravioli again with 1/3 the pasta recipe. Unlike last time with ravioli, this dough needed an extra tsp of water (so a full recipe would need 1 Tbsp).We made the filling by just sautêing spinach with garlic and then mixing in fat free ricotta, seasonings and a tad of egg beaters We made way too much filling and I do not know the exact points. Unlike last time, we made bigger edges and crimped them. Overall, it was really just okay. Not incredible. The filling did not have a lot of flavor. The pasta was good but it is just pasta so it doesn't have a ton of flavor either. I would want to try again but with a more flavorful filling. And probably smaller edges so we can make more. With the extra filling, I added more egg
The soup ended up being less like soup because both the dehydrated mushrooms and the barley reabsorbed everything. Still, it was quite good. We had carrots and celery in it as well. For about 7 cups of broth (with 3 beef cubes, 2 regular chicken cubes, plus a bunch of sodium free chicken powder), we had 3/4 cup of barely. We also added about 1/4 cup of sherry. I do not know the exact amount or information from the mushrooms but they were dehydrated and from Costco. Even though it was less like soup, it was really good with a nice flavor.
Points plus:
Pasta for the ravioli was 6 points each. Filling is low but I do not know exactly.
The barely in the soup was 12 points plus but that was for many servings.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 865, 2011-01-06_200636
Bean Empanadas and Vegetable Soup -- back to top
These were very, very good. We did do some interesting stuff. For the dough, we used unsweetened, vanilla almond milk. I think it affected the browning but other than that, it was really nice. I did the normal 10-minute knead and 30 minute sit. We were really able to stretch the dough thin! They were such small pieces but we just got it very thin.
Meredith made the filling and it was incredible. It started with two rinsed cans of beans (one black and one red kidney beans). In it was:
- 1/2 onion
- Peppers
- Corn
- Peas
- 2 cloves of garlic
- adobo powder
- cumin
- dried cilantro
- cayenne (just a bit)
- sauce from chipotles in adobo (not much, ~1 Tbsp)
- Regular and Habanero Tabasco Sauce (heavier on the latter)
We were able to fill them up a lot too because the dough was really pliable.
The soup was just onions, celery and carrots. We used a mix of chicken and beef broth because we ran out of chicken. It was good but nothing special.
The points are not high....sort of. I do not remember the beans exactly but it is around 2.5 points a serving and 7 servings in the whole thing so the filling for all is about 9 Points plus. The dough is 6 for three pieces but it is actually lower with almond milk. Still, 15 points plus for a lot of food is not bad
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 869, 2011-01-09_225207
French Onion Mushrooms and Grain Mixture -- back to top
The mushrooms were incredible! The recipe is inspired by here but we made enough changes that it is easier to explain. We sautéed the mushrooms (with a bit of Smart Balance) for a while. Then, we combined 1/2 cup of wine with 1/2 cup of water and 1 beef cube with some sodium free chicken. After heating that and mixing, we added it to the onions and let it cook down. Towards the end, we added some corn starch to thicken it. Actually, I accidentally added baking powder but that just created a lot of bubbles and went away. Then, I added the corn starch. I do not think the powder added any flavors. We used my Dad's trick and put a 1/3 wedge of Laughing Cow light Swiss into the mushroom caps and then filled it with the heavily reduced onions. We cooked it at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Very easy and very good.
The grain mixture was a bit stranger. We really didn't know what we were doing and it made if difficult. I do not remember the grains but there was definitely wheat berry. I know that one because they were less cooked and gave a chewy texture that we actually liked a lot. We put some fresh rosemary in and despite it seeming like not enough, it was actually too much. Very strong flavors. I do not remember what else was in there. Overall, it was okay. Definitely not great. Also, we put the mushroom stumps in.
I do not know the points for the grains but there were ONLY GRAINS for points so I do not imagine it was too bad. As for the mushrooms, the points really only come from the tbsp or so of Smart Balance and then the cheese. We made a bunch and had lunch leftovers.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 875, 2011-01-10_220148
Scallops and Vegetables -- back to top
We were looking for something fast and easy so we just seared the scallops and make frozen vegetables. They were okay. Not great for sure. We had to quickly defrost the scallops and that always seems to affect the flavor. The vegetables were just a frozen mix.
It was about 8oz of scallops each. That is about 4 points plus. The vegetables had some starchy ones so I do not know but they wouldn't be that bad.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 880, 2011-01-13_074624
Sweet and Sour Chicken, Stuffed Zucchini and Mashed Potatoes -- back to top
This is old and I meant to post it a while ago. We made sweet and sour chicken based on the sauce below. I doubled it but I didn't really need to. The sauce was just okay. I think I will look into sauce recipes that do not have soy-sauce as it is too overpowering in flavor. It was also spicy. I added some corn-starch to thicken but it didn't make too much difference. Also, when I doubled it, I replaced half of the brown sugar with splenda. We baked the chicken in the sauce
The zucchini was the same as last time again cutting the nuts and using low fat everything. It was good but not as good. I am not sure why. Still, I think it is pretty low in points.
Finally, the mashed potatoes were pretty standard. They were healthy because we did not use butter or sour-cream; just potato. I liked them dipped in the extra sweet and sour sauce.
Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe (from The Kitchn)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 884, 2011-01-14_095821
Chicken Cacciatore and Butternut Squash -- back to top
The Chicken Caccatore was really good and pretty easy. We followed the recipe below but used about 10 oz. of chicken breasts and some extra carrots. Also, we skipped the olive oil and used olive oil pam. The chicken was a bit overcooked but not too bad. This was better than our crock-pot version. For once, I do not think we changed the seasonings much if at all. We also didn't have fresh parsley. We meant to used dried but forgot all together. Finally, after simmering for 45 min, we boosted the heat and let it boil off some liquid uncovered.
The butternut squash was just seasoned with rosemary, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. The crushed red pepper added a really nice spice that was different but really good.
Chicken Cacciatore (from Real Simple))
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 888, 2011-01-17_100623
Chicken Pot-Pie Soup -- back to top
We made the soup based on the recipe below from Gina's. We made a few changes to lower the points. Most notably, we used only about 8 oz of chicken and cut the potatoes. This brings the points down a lot which is good because it was just for two.
Overall, it was just okay. Not the most flavorful. I do not know what it was missing. I looked at other chicken pot-pie recipes and they tended to have the same ingredients so I do not know. I took leftovers for lunch and it was better for lunch than dinner.
Chicken Pot Pie Soup (From Gina's)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 893, 2011-01-18_090350
Grilled Shrimp, Sopa de Ajo (Garlic Soup), and Vegetables -- back to top
The shrimp were cooked on the griddler with each skewer having a different seasoning. They were Old Bay, then Trader Joes 21 Seasoning Salute, and McCormick Caribbean Jerk Seasoning. They old bay was the best and the other two were okay but not great. Still, the shrimp were good and rather filling. Shrimp is great because you can eat a half-pound for very few points. It is high in cholesterol so we do not do it often. I think this may be the first time I did not over-cook the shrimp too!
The soup was more interesting. It is based on the recipe below but with some changes. We replaced half of the smoked, hot paprika with regular and we put bread in at the end. We had french bread from something else so, even though it was higher in points, it was really good. Putting the bread in at the end make it not be as soupy but we liked that more. Also, we skipped the egg all together. Finally, we used half low sodium Better Than Bouillon and half the sodium free powder. Even with half the paprika replaced, it had a nice spice.
The vegetables were just frozen ones.
Sopa de Ajo (Garlic Soup) (from Serious Eats)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 895, 2011-01-19_090656
Sloppy Joes and Brussel Sprouts -- back to top
We made sloppy joes just like last time from that recipe. I am copying it below. I halved it but replaced the brown sugar with splenda. I also added some balsamic vinaigrette but a bit too much. Also, because it was 1/2 pound of beef for 4 sloppy joes, it was not too sloppy.
The brussel sprouts were just roasted with salt and pepper.
Sloppy Joes Recipe (from AllRecipies)
(2014-01-08 Note, This recipe is now inMy Recipe Book)
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 902, 2011-01-20_083732
Moussaka, French Onion Soup, Sides and Bread Pudding (company) -- back to top
We were having company over so we went for a full three course meal. Sadly, in the rush of getting everything out, I didn't get a good picture but that is fine because we didn't really do too much new stuff.
We made french onion soup just like we have in the past but we made a bit more. About 6 cups of broth (mix of beef and chicken) with about a cup of white wine. It came out pretty good. I do not remember if it was 2.5 or three onions. I will have to ask Meredith.
We made the moussaka as we have in the past (with points on that last one). It was good. We made it the night before and refrigerated it. I think that caused the bechemel sauce to crack differently but it was still good. It was actually nice because we did it such that as the sauce cooks down (the longest part), we ate dinner the night before. It made this a less intense meal for one night.
We also had roasted butternut squash and steamed broccoli. I think we over-roasted the squash but both Meredith and I like it mushy so it was not really a bad thing. The broccoli was normal and good.
For dessert we made bread pudding again from the same recipe. We again only used half brown sugar and half splenda. Meredith also added more splenda but I will have to check with her on how much. We also added raisins which was really good. This time we used bananas as the recipe calls for. Also, we used whole wheat bread to make it healthier. With the extra splenda, it was really, really good! We will have to do this again.
We topped it with Trader Joe's Frozen Yogurt.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 905, 2011-01-21_121252
Baked Chicken Fingers and Baked French Fries -- back to top
We fiber-one fried the chicken with egg beaters and the normal fiber one. Honestly, the fiber-one frying is good but not great. We will have to experiment with more options. We are thinking crushed fat free saltines or maybe just whole wheat bread crumbs. Anyway, we baked the chicken at 350 for about 40 minutes
The french fries were just baked with some salt and pepper. They were like roasted potatoes but cut differently and at a lower temperature
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 913, 2011-01-25_212215
Shepherd's Pie and Jalapeno Spinach Soup -- back to top
We made shepherd's pie just like in the past. The base was about 12 oz of lean beef with onions, corn, peas, garlic and spices. Pretty standard and easy. The top was just mashed potatoes (made in our healthy way). Put them together and bake for about 30 minutes at 350.
It was really good this time (though we also enjoyed it in the past). It made a nice amount with enough leftovers for lunch the next day.
The soup was strange. First, I sautéed a bunch of garlic and then added sliced, pickled, jalapeños which I further diced. I added a whole can but I did drain them first. After adding a lot of broth/water, I added a whole bunch of fresh spinach. I used scissors to cut it up.
The soup had a pretty intense burn from the jalapeños and the seeds but it was good. Different but good.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 916, 2011-01-26_223410
Pizza -- back to top
We made pizza using the normal pizza dough recipe except I switched whole wheat and white flour. I also forgot to halve it so it made a lot but instead of making more small, thin pizzas, we made a larger one. Also, I used the bottom of the cast iron pan as a pizza stone for mine.
Even with the extra dough, we had trouble rolling it out. And, I didn't love the flavor very much. I think I need to look into more dough recipes and maybe things that allow for better flavor development.
The sauce was also home made. I semi-pureed a can of diced tomatoes,, added some sautéed onions, and tomato paste. The sauce was better than the previous times.
My pizza (top) was skim ricotta, broccoli and ham with no cheese base. Meredith was FF mozz, olives, tomato and spinach.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 921, 2011-01-29_113607
Breakfast Burrito with Homemade Tortilla -- back to top
Meredith and I wanted to have breakfast burritos but sadly, we found that we were out of tortillas so we did what you are supposed to do, we made our own.
Meredith had seen a recipe and we used it. It is below but we made a few changes by using half whole wheat and using almond milk. We had to add a bit extra water because of using whole wheat flour. As some of the people commented, this is not really a real tortilla because of the leavening. It did make it rise a bit and was harder to fold. I will look into other recipes in the future.
For the filling we made it with ham, egg and Tabasco.
Whole Wheat Tortilla (from Homesick Texan)
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Original Wordpress ID and Date: 926, 2011-01-30_081254
Patatas Bravas Soup and Sandwiches -- back to top
The real winner in this meal was the soup. We kind of made it up. We used a can of tomatoes which I pureed lightly to the point there was still pulp and some chuncks. We then added potatoes, about a 1.5 cups of chicken broth, garlic and onion powder and finally about 1 tsp paprika and about 1/4 smoked hot paprika.
My sandwich was a Reuben. I used less than 1/4 lbs of lean corned beef, fat free Russian, light Jarlsberg, sauerkraut and finally, butter spray with pam on the bread. It made it much healthier. Meredith's was a gourmet grilled cheese with light gouda, and tomato.
With both, we burned the bottom a bit. Even on the low heat, it got too hot. We will have to use even lower heat next time.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 931, 2011-01-30_195526
Chicken Florentine (ish), Beet Greens and Stroganoff -- back to top
The beet greens were sautéed with garlic and garlic powder and then topped with fat free (maybe light?) feta. We cooked the stems first and then added the greens.
The chicken was me just winging it. I pounded down tenders and then when flat, I sprayed them with spray butter. I then put a few spinach leaved on them and then sprayed again. I then sprinkled 1/3 less fat parmesan cheese. I folded them over and then quickly dipped them in whole wheat flour and parm cheese mix (mostly flour). I sautéed them but when I flipped them, I added a bit of white wine and covered the pan. They were good.
We also had a stroganoff thing that you just add water. Actually, you are supposed to also add milk but I just water. Even though stroganoff is supposedly creamy, it was low in calories. Also, we added some of our home-made greek yogurt which taste like sour cream (will write about it later). That was a nice touch. The stroganoff is not in the picture.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 934, 2011-01-31_200051