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!













Monday, May 17, 2010

one

Believe it or not, I actually had to put my thinking cap on to figure out that in order for this post to be titled "one" without being "three", since it's the first post, I had to titel all three backwards. Just a tidbit of information before I continue on with my third and final post of the day. Just the day, not the week. It's only Monday people and I'm back and cooking up a healthy storm.
(And, that could not have sounded more nerdy)

Anyway...

So, Saturday we slept in and completely skipped the breakfast time-slot. I'm proud to say that lunch was our first meal of the day!
Let me just say that Matt has been a grilling machine lately. Almost every meal he says "do you want me to grill that?" No joke. He's THAT into grilling. FINE BY ME! It tastes so good and it's less clean-up! No complaints here. Just a thankful wife to her husband for helping clean and cook, and doing it very well, might I say!

Saturday was one of those "hey, I'll grill that if you want" days. SCORE.
What did we have?

Grilled Chicken & Cheesy Three Pepper and Onion Flatbread Roll-Ups with Garlic Hummus and Tortilla Wedges

I kid you not, it tasted like a million bucks, but only cost about $8 to make!
You be the judge.

INGREDIENTS:

~6 boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins, grilled with Kroger Chicken Grill Seasoning

~1 Package whole weat flatbread/naan
~1 Tbs. olive oil
~1/4 Tbs. salt
~1/4 Tbs. pepper
~Water, to sprinkle on flatbread
~1 Package frozen Kroger Meal Ready 3 Pepper & Onion Blend, sauteed
~1/4 Cup shredded mozzerella

DIRECTIONS:

~Place flatbread onto baking sheet and drizzle a few drops of water. Brush olive oil, salt & pepper onto bread. Bake @ 400* for 3-4 minutes
~Place grilled chicken, veggie mix & cheese onto one side of the flatbread, fold over & enjoy!

*Please refer to the Valentine's Day post for the hummus & tortilla wedges recipes.

I like to think of this little meal as "Medditeranean in Minutes"
(And that's the second nerdy comment for this post)

Matt said "This is ridiculous...this needs to be a regular thing"
I am in 100% agreement.

two

Indeed, this is my second time to post today!
I love cooking. Have I said that before?
So, I make lunch for Matt everday (well, almost, but you get the point)! It's usually turkey sandwich with an apple...yada yada. Well, needless to say, he's sick of it, and so am I. So, yesterday, after church, we headed to the store.

Mission: to get something for Matt to have all this week that didn't involve 1 lb. of peppered turkey breast & provolone cheese.

Solution: Chicken salad. Yes, Matt is a huge fan of chicken salad. Namely his grandmothers recipe, which always reminds me of the lakehouse, so of course I was game to make it. Since I didn't have the recipe on-hand or memorized, and my sources reached me after we had bought groceries, I improvised. That's something that's usually a no-no in recreating a classic. No-no, no-schmo!
I did it. And thankfully it wasn't too far off from the original, thanks to Michele who reached me after the groceries, but before the assembly!

Here's how to make Low-fat Chicken Salad

INGREDIENTS:

~6 Large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, boiled
~3 Stalks celery, chopped
~3 Green onions, chopped
~2 Tsp. black pepper
~Salt to taste
~1 Small can sliced green olives
~1 Tsp. dill weed
~1 1/4 Cup Lite Mayo Dressing (it's different than lite mayo. It has the consistency of yogurt and only 15 calories per serving!!!!)

DIRECTIONS:

~In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients until creamy
~Refrigerate and enjoy!

LUNCH CRISIS AVOIDED & MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

"Oh my gosh, this is so good" Matt said. "like really, really good..." as he's eating out of the bowl. "Matt, stop it! You wanted this for lunch during the week, right?"

Yeah. It's THAT good.
Eat up.

three

Meaning I will post three times today...that's about three times as much as I've posted in the last week.
The number three, for this post at least, also signifies the prep-time for this meal. No lie. It basically takes three minutes, which is crazy.

What did we have?
Well, since you asked, we had Roasted Leg of Chicken with Baby Carrots, Kalamatta Olives.
Yummmmm. It's from the magazine Real Simple. And it's just that. REAL SIMPLE. Just the way we like it. Real simple and really stinking good.
Here's how:

INGREDIENTS:

~1 whole chicken, cut into 10 pieces OR 4 chicken legs, cut into 8 pieces (that's what we did)

~Tsp. paprika
~Tsp. salt
~Tsp black pepper
~3/4 Cup pitted kalamatta olives
~16 oz. Bag baby carrots
~4 Bay leaves
~2 Tbs. olive oil
~1 lemon, wedged into fourths

DIRECTIONS:

~In a large mixing bowl, place all ingredients and toss to coat chicken
~Place on large, rimmed baking sheet and arrange veggies in a single layer
~Bake @ 425* for 1 hour.

TADA! It's so yummy. Delicious, in fact.
Matt said "Meg, this is 'legit'..." and I said "Yeah, I know. We've had it before!"

Never a dull moment in the Hargrove casa.

Until next time!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

pizza, pizza...finally

GOSH!!!!!! It took forever to make this post. Busy bees we have been!
Here's the "master" pizza doigh recipe. It's not one we've used before until tonight. And oh man did it live up to its name. If "master" means THE BEST PIZZA DOUGH YOU'LL EVER PUT IN YOUR MOUTH, then it's correct. Holy cow. SO GOOD.

Here it is:

In a large bowl, combing 2 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 Tsp. salt, 1 pkg. Fliechman's RapidRise yeast. Mix together. Slowly add 1 cup warm-to-hot water and 2 Tbs. olive oil. (I added dried oregano, too..makes it more "Italian-y" feeling, er, uh, tasting)Mix together until a soft dough is formed. Add up to 1/2 cup more flour if needed. Cover and let rise for 10-15 mins. Meanwhile, preheat that old oven of yours to 400*. Grease a baking sheet or pizza stone and then sprinkle with a little bit of corn meal. Roll out the dough to fit the pan. Place desired toppings on and bake for 20 mins, or until done.

Our toppings? Well, we made three seperate pizzas (hey, we had 5 people eating!!!)
pepperoni, mozzerella cheese, black olive, green bell pepper, mushrooms, red onion, jalapenos. YUMMMMMM

Don't have pizza sauce on hand? (who does? And if you do, well, you're awesome)

Mix one 8 oz. can no-salt-added tomatoe sauce & 1/3 small can Italian style tomato paste.

Yeah, it's THAT easy.

Get to making that pizza...it's a piece of, you guessed it, PIZZA.