Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
Sitemap ·
Our Recipe Book ·
Steven's Recipe Book ·
Ann's Recipe Book ·
Meal Ideas ·
Copied Recipes
Random ·
Random Links
posts/2012/05
All sub pages for /posts/2012/05
This was a long time ago so I do not remember all of the details but we made stir fry with tofu (bought by accident). We used soy sauce, some teriyaki, and a bunch of other stuff.
We used real brown rice done in the pressure cooker. According to the timing chart at<http://missvickie.com/howto/grains/rice-cooking.htm>I was supposed to use 18 minutes and then a natural cool with a 1:2
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1921, 2012-05-01_184452
Salmon and Sweet Potatoes -- back to top
We made salmon just like I described here but with some Emril Essence. I also roasted sweet potatoes. It was a very orange meal, but very tasty.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1926, 2012-05-01_184603
We made gumbo using the same recipe as last time but this times used mix seafood. I do not know what we changed, but it wasn't as good. Especially when I used added water to the leftovers
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1932, 2012-05-04_081222
Hotdogs and corn -- back to top
Grilled extra lean hotdogs and corn. I have never grilled corn still in the husks, but it was very good.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1937, 2012-05-11_121517
Beef Enchilada Casserole -- back to top
This was basically the typical Hungry Grill Enchilada Casserole except with beef instead of chicken. Also, we discovered that the healthy option condensed soup was healthier than the 98% fat free. I do not know if it made a difference, but it was good in here.
I do not recall what else I did differently or changes, but it was very good!
We also had steamed edamame on the side which we both enjoyed!
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1940, 2012-05-11_121535
This was the pretty standard taquitos but as usual, there is a lot of room to play. I do not remember exactly what I did (it was a while ago), but they came out great. Off the top of my head, I remember putting some carrots in (which you couldn't even taste but made it healthier) and some black beans (new idea). Other than that, the pretty standard onion, some corn, shredded chicken and two melted laughing cow cheeses to bind it all.
I again shredded the chicken in the mixer. However, in testing to see if it was done enough form the pressure cooker, I cut it into too small of pieces. That made it really hard to shred so I had to run it for a while. It didn't matter in this application since it was going in something, but I should be more careful in the future.
Also, I usually use a hot pan to warm the tortillas before rolling but this time I used the non-stick. It was even easier.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1943, 2012-05-11_121550
This was supposed to be the standard Posole, but we did a lot differently. First of all, we forgot to buy peppers. So, the only peppers in here were a bunch of pickled jalapeños. We _didn't _use chipotles so there was no smokiness (A good thing, I think). Also we used canned tomatillos. And, since I didn't want to only use half of a can, We had more than double the amount. We used fresh cilantro but dried parsley. I also added all kinds of spices including some hot (not smoked) paprika and some crushed red pepper
I do not recall what. if any, other changes I made, but it was very good as usual. Maybe even better. A bit spicy.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1950, 2012-05-11_122903
Taco/Fajita cupcakes -- back to top
This was supposed to be like taco cupcakes, again using the basis of the taco stew as the filling. However, I accidentally added fajita seasonings instead of taco. It was different. Not bad, but different. THe filling was beef, a lot of onion,zucchini, seasonings, salsa (key ingredient) and some corn. I forgot the black beans until I was assembling,
To assemble, we put a layer of wonton wrapper down, then some beef, some cheese, another wrapper, more beef and more cheese. We put a bit too much beef into the first layer so they two wrappers didn't totally meld together. Still, most held their shape.
While it would have been better had I used the correct seasoning, I still liked them a lot. I also really like using the wonton wrappers since it gives a nice crunch and a nice texture
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1955, 2012-05-11_123717
Peanut Noodles, Cabbage, And Chicken Salad -- back to top
This was based on the below recipe except we used the griddler to grill the chicken and then sliced it. We also added some sliced carrot to the cabbage part. Instead of Soba noodles, we used brown rice noodles (and 1/2 pound instead of 3/4). I also think we skipped the scallions but I may be wrong.
It was very good and I really enjoyed the peanut sauce, especially when we mixed it all with the cabbage. It made 4 servings (lunch!) so overall, I do not think the meal was too bad in calories either. We didn't have chicken for the lunch. ALso, we used olive oil and less
Peanut Noodles, Cabbage, And Chicken Salad (from Serious Eats)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1959, 2012-05-11_124242
Pasta with Chickpeas and Arugula -- back to top
I used the recipe below to make this. I didn't have good mozzarella cheese so I just used grated, 2%. I also used toscano for the top. The arugula I used was a bit old and possibly pushing its lifetime. It worked pretty well. The dominant flavor was the balsamic vinegar but I still liked it. The chickpeas gave it some real protein too. Also, I used whole wheat penne (and less) instead of shells
I was in a hurry to I forgot to take a picture of my dinner serving, and then took a picture of the lunch version.
Pasta Shells With Chickpeas And Arugula (from Serious Eats)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1965, 2012-05-14_213902
Mediterranean Chicken Stew with Cinnamon Quinoa -- back to top
This is based on the recipe below. I pressure cooked some chicken breasts and shredded it instead of using rotisserie (obviously, much less chicken). Also, since I pressure cooked it, I used the broth from that instead of chicken broth (well, this is more real chicken broth). I skipped the olive and the lemon juice. Instead of couscous, I used quinoa (and again, less of it). I cooked the quinoa with chicken broth (not from the pressure cooker). I used the orange juice in the quinoa but skipped the lemon in the chicken.
Overall, I liked the meal a lot but there wasn't really any new flavors. It kind of reminded me of most other tomato-like meals. Though, I let it cook to be pretty dry which was different. Again, like yesterday, it had chickpeas which I am getting kind of tired of it now. So, good, but nothing too special.
Mediterranean Chicken Stew with Cinnamon Couscous (from The Kitchn)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1968, 2012-05-15_214008
Sweet and Sour Meatballs with Zucchini Fritters -- back to top
The meatballs were very good and very tasty. The sauce may have cooked down a bit too much to the point that is was really just goop. But, it was still rather good.
I tried something slightly different with the zucchini. Before I grated them, I grated half an onion. Well, that made onion mush with LOTS OF WATER. I had to drain it as best I could and I still struggled to get all the water out. This may also be why I had so much trouble pressing the water out of the zucchini. Despite spending a day in the fridge with lots of weight on the pans, I had to put in new towels and stand on the pans to really get the water out. I may try my Dad's suggestion next time which is to use dried, minced onions. THey will absorb the water!
I made the meatballs based on the recipe below. The major changes I made was to use extra lean beef (and less, 2/3 lbs), egg beaters, no garlic and finally to bake the meatballs (375 for 25 min). For the sauce, the only change I made was less oil and I replaced half of the brown sugar with Splenda. That saved about 8 points plus. I realized as I was making this that the points would climb so I actually calculated them. The entire meal (half of what I made) was 17 points plus. I guess that isn't awful compared to what I would get if I ate out, but it was a bit more than I think I want (not that I have been budgeting).
Meatballs:
Beef...10.5
Bread crumbs ...2
Egg Beater...0.5
Brown Sugar (halved)...8
Ketchup...7
Fritters
Egg...1
Flour...6
So, the entire meal was 34 but I made dinner and lunch so 17
Sweet and Sour Meatballs (From Food.com)
Local Copy -- password is the name of my dog, all lower case
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1973, 2012-05-16_070920
Steak and Roasted Beets (BURNED) -- back to top
This was not a very successful meal. My goal was to make a good (but small) steak and some roasted beets. I let the beets roast for a while, maybe 40 minutes at 450. That may have been too much, but was going well. Then I tried to cook the steak like I did before. I bought a small (8 oz) NY strip steak. I put it on a really, really, really hot cast iron pan. It started pumping the apartment with smoke, but I kept going. Then, I threw it into the oven after the flip. This pumped the oven full of smoke, but also added a lot of heat to the oven, and being that the pan was very hot, it probably added a lot of radiant heat.
Well, in the time it was in the oven, the steak got a bit overcooked, but the beets BURNED. They tasted awful. Even the ones that were less burned tasted like smoke, The steak was okay, but a bit overcooked and not all that good (even though I let it sit to reabsorb juices, etc). Also, the apartment had a 4 foot visibility from the smoke. Once it started smoking, I took off the fire alarm so that was one less thing to worry about.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1982, 2012-05-20_071530
Taquito Cupcakes -- back to top
I was originally going to make taquitos, but I decided to "cupcake" them instead. Basically, it was all the usual. To make the cupcakes, I put down a layer of wonton wrappers, added some cheese, then another layer of wonton wrapper, then more filling (much less than first layer) and then a bit more cheese.
The filling was pretty standard. I sautéd onions (with too much oil, see note below on points), Then I added about half a cup of frozen corn. I added about half a cup of hot salsa. I also used some soy sauce instead of salt and some hot sauce. I made the shredded chicken using my standard technique. That is, about 1/8-1/4 inch of water with seasoning in the pressure cooker then cook on high for about 10 minutes. Then, shred with the mixer. After it was all mixed, I kept adding some of the pressure cooker "broth" to moisten it and let it cook down. Finally, I added 2 softened laughing cow cheese wedges
I also had steamed edamame
Wonton Wrappers (24)...8
9 oz chicken...9
1/2 cup corn...2
~2 tbsp olive oil...7
2 laughing cow...2
Cheese...4
------------------------------
=32 ---> 16/serving
It came out a bit high, but I used too much olive oil. I will go lighter on it next time to save a good number of points.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1987, 2012-05-26_101831
Calamari Stir Fry and Roasted Broccoli -- back to top
I had to use some frozen calamari I bought a while ago. The calamari was pretty gross. It was the whole tubes and the tentacles. I persevered and made a nice stir fry. I used scissors (my meat cutting tool of choice) to cut the tubes into rings and I kept the tentacles as is. Then I sautéd onions and peppers. I added the calamari and a bunch of garlic. I let it cook just until it seemed that they were all cooked. I wanted to avoid making them too rubbery. I then added rice (see 2012-05-01 for pressure cooking instructions). Then, I went a bit crazy with liquids. I added soy sauce, oyster sauce, a bunch of different hot sauces, sesame oil, rice vinegar and fish sauce.
Overall, it was actually pretty good. The tentacles still managed to give me the heebbie Jeebies, but I ate them anyway.
I also made rosted broccoli similar to here. It could have been cooked a bit more. I also made too much at 1.5 lbs. That is a lot of broccoli to eat all alone in one sitting.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1993, 2012-05-28_000645
Pasta-Tuna Creation -- back to top
We were going to order in, but decided to save the time, money, and calories. Plus, this got rid of more stuff in the pantry. I basically cooked whole wheat shells (about6 oz or three servings). Then I added a can of 97% fat free condensed chicken soup, a can of black beans, a can of tuna, and some steamed broccoli. Then I added a bunch of spices, some grated low fat cheese and salt. Stirred it up and made this. It was alright. A bit strange I guess and not overly flavorful but it got the job done.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1996, 2012-05-29_071541
Boring old Taquitos -- back to top
I attempted to make the pretty standard taquitos included shredded chicken. About the only other change was that I accidentally added way too much salsa. Plus, it was medium instead of hot salsa. It added a good amount of tomatoes which was nice. In addition to onion, I used a red pepper, some chopped mushrooms, and carrot slices (hey, why not add nutrients). We didn't have enough tortillas so I put the remaining filling into the glass bowls, topped them with cheese, and baked them too.
I think it has been better before, but this was still pretty good.
Original Wordpress ID and Date: 1999, 2012-05-30_071609