Well, hello there!

Well, hello there!
Matt & I in Costa Rica over Christmas...So beautiful there!
It's simple. Really. We're a young married couple that loves cooking together. We always try to eat healthy and, if it's simple and doesn't break the bank, we're into that, too! We hope you'll visit often and tell us what you think about what we're cooking! We'd love to hear from you. Drop us a note, a suggestion or a recipe!













Thursday, February 25, 2010

comfort food

Why does "comfort food" typically make you uncomfortably full? It's probably because it's most often unhealthy and we eat a ton if it. A ton!
When you're having one of those days, you need it, but the last thing you want to feel is, well, uncomfortable. My suggestion? Eat what you love, but add healthy elements, eat it in moderation and adjust the recipe.
I know you're wondering what our comfort food dinner was tonight. So, without further adue, here's what we had:

Garlic-Parmesan Chicken with Baked Sweet Potato Fries & Green Beans

This menu is extremely easy to make, and mostly healthy. Mostly.

Here's what you need:

Garlic-Parmesan Chicken

INGREDIENTS
4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 Tbs. butter, melted (you can use SmartBalance instead to save on calories)
1 Cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 Shredded parmesan cheese
Black pepper, to taste (probably around 1 tsp.)
Garlic powder, to taste (same as above)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350*
Grease 9x13 glass baking dish
Place everything buy the butter and chicken into a shallow mixing bowl or pie dish, toss
Dip each piece of chicken into butter
Dip each piece of chicken into dry mixture
Place into baking dish and bake for 1 hour 15 mins. (or until chicken reaches at least 165*)

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

INGREDIENTS
1 Large sweet potato, halved and cut into thin slices/wedges
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 Tsp. black pepper
1/2 Tsp. Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt
1/2 Tsp. Kroger steak seasoning

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350*
Line metal baking sheet with tin foil (to avoid a mess and having to wash the baking sheet... I'm only trying to make this easier for you!!!)
Spray tin foil with cooking spray
Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl, toss to coat potatoes
Place seasoned potatoes onto baking sheet
Bake for 25 minutes

Green Beans
I CHEATED!!!!!! I used a fresh-frozen pack!
Just follow the directions :-)

The verdict? Well, I'll say this much, when the chicken was baking Matt said "Is dinner already cooking?" "Yes" I replied. "It smells REEEEEEEALLLLY good..." he said. "Well it should, it's one of your favorites!" I said. And then he knew. I swear this recipe gets better and better every time. You can also use the same recipe for pork chops. Same exact ingredients. Same baking time. Same garlicky goodness.

Comfort food? YES! Uncomfortable? No way!

Enjoy!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

hmmm...hummus

Today I made hummus from scratch!
It's so easy. So yummy and healthy.
Here's what you need:

Garlicky Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

INGREDIENTS:

1 can (15 oz) chick peas/garbanzo beans
1/4 Cup roasted red peppers
3 Garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbs. + 1 Tsp. extra virgin olive oil
Juice of one small lemon
Salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Place all ingredients into a food processor or blender
Blend until desired consistency is reached (it should be smooth, but not runny)

Enjoy! I made seasonded tortilla wedges to serve it with (for which the recipe is under the Valentine's blog entry), along with celery sticks.

It was SO GOOD! A great healthy, inexpensive snack or appetizer.

Monday, February 22, 2010

dinner for a dozen

Having family over is always fun. This time in particular was ultra-special.
We had my whole side of the family over (well, minus Mern & Phil, Paul, Beck & Cade). For Casey, Mandi & the kiddos, it was their first time to see Matt & I's house. It's so crazy how grown-up you feel when you host a dinner party at your own house. I love it. So, once the dogs started chasing the kids around the back yard, Matt fired up the grill. We wanted to keep it simple & kid-friendly but still healthy and delicious! So...what did we make?

Grilled Burgers, Chicken & Seasoned Fresh Corn w/ Homemade Coleslaw

Crowd pleaser much?

Here's what you'll need:

Grilled Burgers

INGREDIENTS:
Desired amount of lean ground beef chuck or ground sirloin (80/20 or 93/7)


DIRECTIONS:
Heat your grill to high
Place burger patties onto grill, cover and grill until medium-well to well

Grilled Chicken

INGREDIENTS:
Desired amount of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbs. Kroger Chicken Seasoning (We use these ALL THE TIME)

DIRECTIONS:
Place seasoned chicken onto gril, cover and flip once
Grill until chicken reaches AT LEAST 165*

Grilled Corn

INGREDIENTS:
Desired amount of fresh yellow corn, shucked
1/4 Cup butter or SmartBalance, melted
Janes Crazy Mixed Up Salt
Freshly-ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Place all the corn into a large mixing bowl
Brush each piece with melted butter
Sprinkle generously with seasonings
Place corn onto grill, cover and grill until corn starts to char slightly-- about 5-8
minutes

Homemade Coleslaw (Thanks to my mom!)

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 Head green cabbage, sliced or coarsly grated
1/4 Head red cabbage, sliced or coarsly grated
1/8 Red onion, sliced or coarsly grated
1 1/2 Cups matchstick carrots, or 1 large carrot, thinly sliced
1 Heaping Tbs. Splenda
1/4 Cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbs. lite mayonaise
1 Tsp. freshly-ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Combine first 4 ingredients in a large mixing bowl
In a medium mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients and pour over veggies
Mix together and taste-- add Splenda or vinegar as needed

Burger Toppings (what we used, but obviously you use whatever you want!)

Provolon cheese, sharp cheddar cheese (we always use deli-thin sliced cheeses, they are just enough and only have about 60 calories per slice)
Red onion, romaine lettuce, sliced avocado, ketchup, mustard (for everyone but Matt & I...if you know us, you know we don't do mustard, or mayo for that matter), lite mayo.

I think my nephew Hudson had 2 whole burgers! It was so good. Matt did basically everything...so awesome.
We can't wait for our next family dinner, and hopefully it will be with all 17 of us!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

for casey

A home-cooked meal? No. But worth telling about!
Last night my brother and family got in from Costa Rica. We haven't seen them since the Summer, so you can imagine how crazy excited we all were.
So, after a bunh of "MOOKIE & UNCLE MATT!!!!" we all packed up, all 15 of us, all 3 cars are headed for dinner.
Cheeburger Cheeburger is where we went.
My oldest brother Paul walked in at 5 'til 9 and asked if they were open. "We don't close until 9" the manager said, "come on in. How many do you have?" "Uhmm...15?" Paul said. "That's fine! Bring 'em in" the manager said.
And there we were. Here's the breakdown, 8 adults, 7 kids (all under the age of 10).
As soon as we sat down, my brother Casey asked if i was going to blog about this dinner. I didn't think I would, but once again, a few minutes ago, he asked. And here I am.

What was on the menu?
Anything you want. We ordered from kids "chee"burgers to salads to onion rings, you name it. If it was fried, I'm sure someone ordered it. As it turns out, everything was really good. They have an awesome menu where you choose your burger or salad and you can add, for FREE, whatever and how ever many toppings you want!
I had a salad with banana peppers, back olives, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, & feta cheese. So good!

So there you go, Case. Enjoy!

:-)

Saturday, February 13, 2010

valentine's day came early

So, this year we decided on no gifts, but instead we'd each plan a day of the weekend. Today is my day. Here's what's on the menu:

Breakfast

Puddin' Place Eggs, Bacon & Buttermilk Waffles w/Orange Marinated Strawberries, Homemade Orange-Scented Whipped Cream

OK. So, our last post was all about splurging...turns out today is somewhat of a splurge, too. Oh well. You only have Valentine's one day a year, er, uh, in our case, two days? Who cares. Since two of the items on the breakfast menu were on the last post, I won't give you the low-down again.

Picnic in Southshore Park

(After we worked out. Lol.)

Peppered Turkey & Roasted Pepper Sanwiches on Mini Ciabatta Rolls w/Homemade Tortilla Wedges & Hummus (which I did not make!) & Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Dinner

PF Changs China Bistro. OH YEAH BABY. We love PF Changs! We've been eating there for birthdays and special occasions since we've been together. So, I thought I'd give myself, and the dishwasher a break for dinner!

Dessert

Homemade Cake Balls


Here's What You Need

Orange-Marinated Strawberries

INGREDIENTS
6-8 Fresh strawberries, stemmed & quartered
2 Tbs. Splenda
2 Tbs. Orange flavoring or Orange Liqeuor

DIRECTIONS
Place all ingredients into a small mixing bowl
Mash together & refrigerate for 20 mins.
Pour over waffles

Orange-Scented Whipped Cream

INGREDIENTS
2 Cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 - 3/4 Cup powdered sugar
1 Tbs. Orange flavoring or orange liqeuor

DIRECTIONS

Place all ingredients into mixer
Mix on high until cream becomes thick
Spoon onto waffles

Peppered Turkey Sandwiches

INGREDIENTS

2 Mini ciabatta rolls, sliced
6 Oz. peppered turkey breast, thinly sliced
4 Pieces Roasted red bell pepper
2 Slices provolone cheese
2 Oz. baby spinach

DIRECTIONS

Place 1 slice cheese, 3 oz. turkey, 2 peppers and 1 oz. spinach onto roll
ENJOY!

Tortilla Wedges

INGREDIENTS
3 Tortillas, quartered
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 Tsp. Janes crazy mixed up salt
1/2 Tsp. garlic salt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400*
Place tortilla wedges onto baking sheet
Brush with oil & seasonings mix
Bake for 10 mins.

I'll post the rest of the recipes later!
Happy Valentine's to everyone!

Friday, February 12, 2010

splurge

On clothes? Not lately. On a car? No. On a meal out? Rarely. On dinner "in" tonight. Big time. Worth it? Completely.

We had my parents over for a "breakfast" dinner, which has been dubbed "brenner".
We eat breakfast for dinner a lot, see our first blog entry!

What was on the menu?

Puddin' Place Eggs, Wisconsin Apple Cheese Bake & Bacon

Without further adue, here's what you need:

Puddin' Place Eggs (courtesy of Southern Living & Michele)

INGREDIENTS:
(4) 6 inch ramekins
Cooking spray
4 whole eggs
1 cup shredded mozzerella cheese, divided
2 pieces low-sodium, no-sugar-added bacon, pan fried and halved (the recipe actually calls for Canadian bacon, but I alwasy use real bacon)
8 tbs. heavy whipping cream, divided four ways
Sprinkles of salt, pepper & paprika

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350*spray bottom of ramekins
Place bacon in bottom of ramekins
Pour 1/4 cup cheese into each ramekin, push up towards side to form a hole in the middle
Crack one whole egg into each
Sprinkle each with salt & pepper
Pour 2 tbs. heavy whipping cream into each
Sprinkle tops with paprika
Bake for 25 mins!

Wisconsin Apple Cheese Bake (Courtesy of Michele)

INGREDIENTS:
6 large Granny Smith apples, cored & sliced
2 cups baking mix (such as Pioneer or Bisquick)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Velveeta
1 1/2 cups sugar, OR 3/4 cup sugar & 3/4 cup Splenda
2 sticks melted butter

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350*
Place apples into a 9X13 glass baking dish
Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, pour over apples
Cover with tin foil & bake for 40 mins
Remove tin foil after 40 mins and bake for additional 10 mins to brown

Bacon:

Just pan fry the bacon and you're done!

The verdict? RIDICULOUS.
"This could get habbit forming really quick" my dad said "it's unbelievable." "I'm full" Matt said, "this is too good to be true every time we have it."

Splurge? OH YEAH. It's good to do that every once in a while.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

grill time

After a long, and I mean LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG night of filing our tax return, we decided to grill for dinner. Around 8:30. Oh well. So, Matt fired up the grill. One steak and one piece of chicken. You can guess who had the steak :-)
This was quite possibly one of the EASIEST meals ever. That might even be an understatement. Here's what you need:

Grilled steak & Chicken

Ingredients:

Steak (whatever cut you prefer)
Chicken breast
1 tbs. Kroger chicken grill seasoning
1 tbs. Kroger steak grill seasoning

THAT'S IT. I told you it was easy. Too easy. Scratch that, nothing's too easy when you're cooking!!!

Directions:

Preheat the grill to high
Place chicken on grill first, cover and grill for 5 minutes
Turn the chicken, then place steak on grill, cover and grill for 6 minutes
turn everything once more, cover and cook for 5-6 more mins (for a medium-rare steak I believe)

Grilled corn

Ingredients:

2 pieces fresh, shucked yellow corn
1 tsp. butter or SmartBalance
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Rub butter, salt & pepper onto corn
Grill until corn starts to slightly char in small areas

Spinach, Tomato & Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh baby spinach
2 roma tomatoes, quartered & sliced
1/2 cucumber, slightly peeled, halved & sliced
Drizzle red wine vinegar
Drizzle extra virgin olive oil
Pepper to taste

Directions:

Place 1 1/2 each cups spinach into 2 bowls
Add 1 roma tomato to each bowl
Add 1/4 cucumber to each bowl
Drizzle each with red wine vinegar & extra virgin olive oil
Pepper each to taste

SEE HOW EASY THAT WAS?!?!
Almost embarassingly so.

The verdict? Simple. Tasty. Healthy.
"Did you only buy two ears of corn?" Matt said, "This is ridiculous. What did you put on it?" "Uhhhhh... (blank stare)" I said, "butter, salt & pepper". "WHAAAAAAAAAT?!! This is the best corn ever! Next time buy more." Matt said.

Grill session adjourned.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

oops!

So, as it turns out, we took a two night vaca from cooking at home. After Niko Niko's (which was ridiculously good) on Friday, my parents decided they wanted us to go to dinner with them last night, which was really fun. So, all that talk about grilled chicken and sweet potato mash, yada yada, well, it didn't happen last night. So, we'll have it tomorrow. Wait. We have Bible study tomorrow. Hmmm...Tuesday. Wait. I think that's poker night. Hmmm...We shall see. We've had a great time eating out the past two nights, but, we're ready to start cooking again.

Side note: if you haven't noticed already, I'm horrible at grammar. Sorry. I know we have a lot of people reading this, or "following" as they say in blog-land, that are/were English majors. Please forgive me. It's never been a strong point for me. Ha, that's probably a severe understatement. Oh well. We're all flawed.

We hope everyone has a great night of football, family, fellowship and, you guessed it, food! (and more football, of course) HAPPY SUPER BOWL!!!

Friday, February 5, 2010

cook's on vacation.

Not really. I wish. But, we are taking a small, one night vacation from cooking. Tonight we're going to Niko Niko's in Montrose. So good. My very best friend invited Matt & I to dine with her and her family there tonight. She says it's for an advertising class project...which is actually true. How could we resist? In the name of UH ADVERTISING, let's go to Niko Niko's! We're always down for some ridiculously good Greek food. Stop it. I'm getting excited right now and we're not going until 7. Ah, I can't wait. Please be 7 right now.

So, no dinner blog tonight. However, here's what we're having tomorrow night!

Grilled Chicken with Sweet Potato Mash, Grilled Corn & Spinach Salad

Sound good? Yeah, we think so, too.
We love food. And that's not a bad thing.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

something's fishy.

That's right. We had fish tonight. And it was good.
A lot of people don't like fish. A lot of people only eat fish (see also "pescatarian"). We like fish every now and then. Tonight was one of those "now" nights. There are many kinds of fish...for those that do not care for it, but are willing to try again, go with something mild like Tilapia or Cod. For those who like fish, well, we need say nothing.

Here's what we had:

Tilapia Grill Packs with Bacon, Feta & Tomatoes and a Fresh Spinach & Apple Salad w/Bacon Vinaigrette

Ingredients for the tilapia packs:

2 6 oz. tilapia fillets, fresh or, if frozen, thawed
3 tbs. fat-free ranch dressing
2 tbs. crumbled feta cheese
3 pieces no-sugar-added, reduced-sodium bacon, cooked and broken into small pieces (and for you die-hard bacon people, it tatstes the exact same, just less calories...so, why wouldn't you?)
1 tomato, chopped
1 green onion, chopped
Cilantro to taste
Pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat your grill to high
Cut two 1 foot pieces of foil (if you don't have heavy-duty foil, double it).
Place tilapia in center of foil
Pour 1 1/2 tbs. ranch dressing on each fillet
Pour 1 tbs. crumbled feta cheese on each fillet
Place 1 1/2 pieces of crumbled bacon on top
Fold each of the four sides up of the foil, leaving the top open
Place on grill, cover and grill for 10 mins.
Remove from grill and top with tomatoes, green onion and cilantro

Ingredients for the Spinach & Apple Salad w/Bacon Vinaigrette:

3 cups fresh baby spinach
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup + 3 tbs. red wine vinegar
1 apple, thinly sliced (You can use any kind. We used a Red Delicious tonight, although I think it would have been better with a Gala..oh well)
2 pieces no-sugar-added, reduced-sodium bacon, cooked and broken into pieces
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Place spinach & apple into a large bowl
In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients, pour over spinach & apples
Toss & serve

The verdict? SO GOOD. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
"This is off the chain" Matt said "I want to eat this every other week". "OK, but what about that chicken cranberry curry? You liked that, right?" I said. "Yeah, that was good, but this is SOOOOOOOOOOOO much better. I want more. Now" Matt said.

Fishy mission accomplished.

And that concludes our second ever dinner blog.

beef...it's not what we had for dinner last night.

We actually hardly ever eat "beef" in the sense that it's from a cow. HOLY COW! (pun intended) We do however eat red meat from time to time, and yes, it's usually exotic deer meat. So, last night we made (yes, "we" is very true. We cook together all the time) our version of a breakfast taco. Please see the recipe below.

Healthy Hargrove Breakfast Taco

Ingredients:

4-6 low-carb tortillas, warmed
1 lb. lean deer sausage (but you can use ANY lean pan sausage)
3 egg whites
2 whole eggs
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup 2 % cheddar cheese
salt & pepper to taste
Any amount of your favorite hot sauce, if desired

Directions:

In a large skillet, place thawed sausage and cook until done.
Remove from skillet and place on a paper-towel-lined plate, saving the grease (I hate that word) or drippings (OK, I hate that one even more!)
In a small bowl, beat egg whites & whole eggs with milk, salt & pepper.
Place in skillet and cook thouroughly.
Add cheese & sausage to eggs.
Remove from heat and serve on warm low-carb tortillas with salsa to top!

ENJOY!
Man, I know we did. "I could eat this everyday for the rest of my life" Matt said. "I couldn't" I said, "but they are pretty freakin' tasty...we're going to need a lot of eggs."

And that concludes our first ever blogged dinner.