Week #2

What a crazy week this has been!  So glad to have our car back and running well - hoping it stays that way!!!  This week I chose a few of our favorite recipes from the Pampered Chef "29 Minutes to Dinner" cookbook.  We're also trying out some new recipes from the latest edition of Taste of Home "Healthy Cooking" magazine.  Should be a fun one!!

Sunday Morning - Chunky Monkey Pancakes
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/09/banana-chocolate-chip-pancakes-with.html
UPDATE: This recipe wasn't nearly the hit I expected it to be with the fam.  A little bummed.  The texture is a bit "off" from the usual pancake - the bananas make it seem like it's not cooked all the way through. I think I added too much banana - so if you're going to try this one go easy on the banana or leave it out completely and then add sliced nanners on top.  The syrup is nearly sinful - a definite try on ANY type of pancake!

Sunday Dinner - Baked Mostaccioli (new!)
Taste of Home "Healthy Cooking" www.tasteofhome.com/healthycooking

What you need: 8 oz uncooked mostaccioli (I couldn't find this at my local market so decided on a penne noodle...rigatoni would probably be a good alternative too), 1/2 lb ground turkey, 1 small onion chopped, 1 can undrained diced tomatoes, 1 6oz can tomato paste, 1/3 cup water, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, 2 cups fat free cottage cheese, 1 tsp marjoram, 1 1/2 cups part skin mozzarella, 1/4 cup parmesan

Instructions: Cook Mostaccioli per package directions.  Brown turkey and onion - drain if necessary.  Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, water, oregano, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes. In a small bowl, combine cottage cheese and marjoram then set aside.  Drain mostaccioli.  Coat an 11"x7" baking dish with cooking spray then spread 1/2 cup meat mixture on the bottom of the pan. Next layer half of the mostaccioli, meat sauce and mozzarella cheese.  top with cottage cheese mixture. Layer with remaining mostaccioli, meat sauce, and mozzarella.  Sprinkle top with parmesan.  Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 - 40 minutes or until nice & bubbly. 

Monday - FFY/Leftovers (I'm going to dinner with some girlfriends so the hubs and boys are having a FFY (Fend For Yourself) night and using up whatever is in the fridge

Tuesday - Toasted Angel Hair with Sausage & Peppers (family fave!)
Adapted from Pampered Chef "29 Minutes to Dinner"

What you need: 1 lb hot Italian sausage (we use a turkey sausage and spice it up with ground cayenne pepper), 2 medium red peppers, 1 lb uncooked angel hair pasta (we use a whole grain or whole wheat variety), 2 cloves garlic, 5 3/4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth (yes, you read FIVE), 1 cup fresh basil, 1 oz parmesan cheese

Instructions: Brown sausage (should look like ground beef but smell like yummy sausage!). As sausage is browning, slice the tops off the peppers. De-seed the peppers.  Dice the tops and bottoms and julienne cut the bulk of the pepper (means thin strips).  Now put the peppers aside and remove the browned sausage from the skillet and set aside. This is the strange part but totally MAKES this recipe - add dry pasta to the skillet and toast for about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring at about 2 minute intervals. After the pasta is nice & toasted, press garlic over the pasta and add chicken broth, peppers and browned sausage to the skillet.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer for about 5-6 minutes. As pasta simmers, chop basil, reserve half for garnish.  When pasta is done, remove from heat and add basil.  Divide among serving bowls (serves 8) and garnish with reserved basil and grated parmesan.  YUMMY!!!

Wednesday - Korean Beef Bowls (family fave!)
Adapted from Pampered Chef "29 Minutes to Dinner"

What you need: 2 green onions with tops, 1 lb skirt steak, 2 garlic cloves, 3 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1tsp coarsely ground black pepper, 1 tbsp sugar (splenda doesn't make a very good sub for this one!), 1 tsp veggie oil. 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice (basmati or rice noodles also work well), 2 medium carrots, 2 cups bean sprouts

Instructions: For steak and marinade: thinly slice green onions reserving 1tbsp of tops for garnish. Cut steak crosswise into 2 inch pieces (always cut against the grain) and put into bowl with green onions. Press garlic over the beef, add soy sauce, sesame oil, black pepper, and sugar - mix well.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use (doesn't have to be very long!).  As beef marinates, make rice according to package directions.  As beef marinates and rice cooks, peel carrots and discard skin.  Rinse everything off then continue to slice ribbons of carrots with your peeler.  Put the carrot ribbons into ice water until ready to serve. To finish steak, add veggie oil to skillet (we prefer to break out the wok), heat over medium high heat until shimmering.  Add beef in a single layer and cook undisturbed for about 2 minutes.  Stir, then cook for another 3 -4 minutes until beef is no longer pink (it almost caramelizes the beef and looks burned but it's not). Divide rice among 4 four bowls and top with beef, carrot ribbons and beat sprouts. Garnish with green onions.  YUMMERS!

Thursday - Sweet & Sour Chicken (new!)
Taste of Home "Healthy Cooking" www.tasteofhome.com/healthycooking

What you need: 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 4 oz each), 2/3 cup water, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cider vinegar, 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce, 1 medium red pepper cut into 1 inch pieces, 1 medium green pepper cut into 1 inch pieces, 2 tbsp cornstarch, 3 tbsp cold water, Cooked brown rice

Instructions: Place chicken in an 11"x7" baking dish, set aside. In a small saucepan, bring water, sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce to a boil, stirring constantly.  Add peppers, return to boil. Combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; gradually stir into pepper mixture.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 - 2 minutes or until thickened.  Pour over chicken. Bake uncovered at 350 for 10 - 13 minutes each side or until meat reaches 170 on a meat thermometer.  Serve over brown rice.

Friday - Pepperjack Breakfast Casserole - We're having a department breakfast this morning at the office and I'm just doubling the effort and saving one for dinner that night! Breakfast for dinner - YAY!  http://www.recipegoldmine.com/breakcass/pepper-jack-breakfast-cass.html

Modifications to the above link: We use the turkey sausage spiced with ground cayenne in place of the pork sausage, get skim or low fat cheeses if I can find them, and also use fat free half and half.  My home version this time around will probably use real pork sausage since I'm making both the work casserole and the dinner casserole at the same time but I do have two different cartons of half and half for the two dishes in my fridge. Fatten up my coworkers, not my family!!! 

Have a fantastic week my friends!   I'm going to be working on my holiday baking recipes here in the next week and will have a special baking post for you soon.  I can just feel your excitement and anticipation!  Until then....