Starvin' Marvin

I'm sure you've all been super worried that we have been s t a r v i n g here on Argyle Street. I assure you this is not the case. However, we have been pretty darn hot. The air temps, high humidity, and the lack of a/c in our kitchen have kept me from cooking as much as usual and when I have braved the elements I've been trying to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible.
Lucky for you (and us) it's a cool and overcast 75-ish today and I embarked on a calorie-conscious meal this evening.

So, what have we been eating since it's been so hot? Well, Adam got a new grill and that has been pretty awesome. Before we only had a rather large charcoal grill, which tastes delicious but is kind of a pain to fire up for just us two. Now, we have a fancy shmancy portable gas grill that is quick and easy.
And when grilling fails, we ask Buddy & Jasmine to share their kibble. JK

Adam went out of town for a few days and I made some really yummy lamb meatballs with couscous and steamed veggies. The grease from the meatballs dripped onto the bottom of the oven. That was bad. It was at this point I realized I didn't have any oven cleaner and didn't have a car to go to the store, so I "green cleaned" the oven by sprinkling a serious layer of baking soda all over the bottom, spritzing it with water from a spray bottle until it was paste-like, leaving it overnight, and wiping it out with a sponge. Overall, pretty pleased with the results of that endeavor.

Enough chit-chat, let's get down to the grub:

Pork Saltimboca
slightly adapted from Cooking Light


5 center cut boneless pork chops
1/2 c. shredded fontina cheese
5 super-thin slices of prosciutto
sage

Pound  the pork chops between two sheets of plastic wrap.

Place one slice of prosciutto, a little blob of cheese, and sage on each chop.

Fold the chop over like a sandwich and secure with a toothpick.

Flour

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

Dredge the chops in flour. 

Sprinkle with s&p.

Heat olive oil in a medium pan.

Cook chops for about 2 mins on each side, remove from pan.

1 c. white wine

1 c. chicken broth

more sage

Add 1/2 c. white wine to the pan, scraping all the leftover goodness into the mix.

Drink rest of wine.

Let wine reduce to about 1/4 c.

Add 1 c. chicken broth, bring to a boil, let reduce to about 1/2 c. 

Add sage.

Return chops to pan to get hot and juicy (2-3 minutes).

Serve with polenta or pasta.

We just finished eating something wonderful. I mean this was really top-notch if I do say so myself (and I do!) While I was eating I was wishing there was more and then considering starting another batch for tomorrow. No joke. The thought of making this again immediately did cross my mind. But tomorrow is softball night so we won't really be home for dinner and I don't have any chicken that is not frozen.
So, the memories of this dinner will have to do for now... and luckily I can relive it for you right now.

Since I last posted, I made a repeat (herbed chicken parmesan), a really bad attempt at a light alfredo sauce (this was all documented but the household vote was that it should not only be omitted from the blog but I should also "throw that recipe away"), some yummy salads, a coffee cake, and an apple-strawberry yogurt smoothie.

Also, I should note that I have been freezing single serve portions of the leftovers and using them as grab & go lunch items. It's nice because I'm not eating the same thing two or three meals in a row. Instead, I stop by the freezer on my way out the door, pick one of the several options, and by lunch time it is usually thawed or close to it.

Greek-style Chicken Kabobs

Marinade coming together

[adapted from allrecipes.com/cooking light message boards]


3/4 cup fat-free plain yogurt
1/3 cup fat-free crumbled feta cheese 

• lemon zest 
• juice of half a large lemon
• sprinkle of dried oregano, rosemary, and basil
• dash of salt & pepper
• skinless, boneless chicken tenders
• half a red onion, cut into chunks
• cherry tomatoes, halved
• yellow & red bell pepper, cut into inch-ish pieces

combine everything but the veggies & chicken in a shallow dish

send the chickies for a swim in the marinade (I left them overnight)

soak your wooden skewers

thread your veggies & chicken (cut into cubes if you prefer) onto the skewers

grill, baby, grill

serve with on a fluffy bed of couscous

enjoy!

that corn hiding in the background jumped on the grill (it didn't go with the meal, but we couldn't leave it hanging

Starting to try new foods

In our house growing up my mom had a phrase to get us to try new foods that has stuck with us all.

"Try it. You might have grown a new taste bud." 

I recently discovered a taste bud that is oh so fond of V8 V-fusion drinks. I know I don't get enough fruits & veggies in a day and these are delish!

This juice doesn't just look delightful, my friends.

Also, in an effort to satisfy my craving for salt & vinegar chips (stop the rumors right there- not a pregnant craving, I always love these) & to meet my calorie-counting needs I tried POPchips and whoa mama! they are go-od!

I should put some of those google ads at the bottom of my page so I can at least make a little moolah for my product endorsements. Maybe if V8 & POPchips have a surge in sales in the Chicago market they'll come knocking on my door with one of those giant checks!

Well, let's see... what else have I made in the last few days?

Banana Bread
adapted from a bunch of websites & my brain
warning: i'm starting to feel a little wacky, there is definitely chair dancing* going on while i write this one

*chair dancing: the act of dancing from the waist up while sitting in a chair. often includes swaying, head bobbing, and finger pointing

[preheat your oven to 325]

1 stick of room temperature butter (yes, I'm still working through my freezer stash of buddah)
1 cup of granulated sugar (I was really tempted to type sugah just now)

[whip those together]

2 large eggs aka grande juevos

[whip those in one at a time until you have some fluffy goodness]

3 ripe bananas (more than a few brown spots if you know what I mean)
1 tablespoon milk (a splash will do)
a serious sprinkle of cinnamon

[mash 'em till the sun don't shine]

[combine the fluffy goodness with the mashed mess]

2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon each of baking soda, baking powder, salt

[combine dry ingredients]

[bring the whole gang together until just combined]

[Grease a loaf pan: I got to debut a new pampered chef loaf pan courtesy of mi madre]

[bake for an hour-ish until an unused toothpick comes out clean]

Let it cool for 10-15 minutes

While this was cooling I toasted some chopped walnuts (bake them on 350 for 7ish minutes to let the flavors take on new life)

Then I served warm slices with the nuts, honey, and butter. 

Obviously you could add the nuts in during baking if that's your style.

OH I ALMOST FORGOT-

I was recently presented with the prestigious Wife of the Week Award.

It was super exciting. I was nominated for making a weekday morning breakfast.

I made it to feed my hubs & start his day of right, but also I really needed to make something fatty on my new baking stone so it could get seasoned and biscuits were a recommended item. 

Biscuits, cheesy scrambled eggs, jonagold apple

the Start of Grilling Season

With the advent of warmer weather, I put a grilled meal on the docket. But I forgot that we live in Chicago and you can not count on warm weather or sun. Wednesday night in Chicago it was raining and cold. But, bless his heart, Adam fired up the grill and weathered the storm to make dinner.

Grilled Chicken (marinated in Italian dressing, a favorite easy marinade)

Grilled Polenta with parmesan & parsley

Steamed Broccoli

Clearly, I have a sack of polenta to work through now. 

Grilling it was simple enough. Basically, you whip up a batch just the same way you would if you were going to serve it porridge-style (a la last week's recipe). Then pour it into a greased 9x13 and refrigerate it until it is firm. Then slice, brush with olive oil, & grill to perfection.

The best thing about grilling chicken is the leftovers. I mean, seriously, what can't you do with leftover grilled chicken breasts? Just a few old standbys:

• grilled chicken caesar salad
• grilled chicken panini
• grilled chicken quesadillas

On Thursday for lunch I made the most delightful salad. Regretfully I didn't take a pic and it is long gone!

His & Hers Mac n Cheese

We don't generally get into this whole his & hers business. We have one car, one bank account, one calendar, but when it came to making some creamy cheesy baked goodness I had to make a differentiation. 

As previously mentioned, I'm on the next train out of Fatsville so I adapted a classic mac n cheese recipe to fit my dietary needs. Adam, however, is not a fan of the lighter version of classically rich meals so I amped his up to include his new found love of good cheese.

The classic recipe:

melt 1 Tb butter, add 1 Tb flour, stir until smooth (or as I like to refer to this step "roux it up")

slowly add 1 cup milk, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper

Add 1/2 cup cheese,  approx 2 cups cooked mac

top with another 1/2 cup of cheese, bread crumbs, bake until bubbly, voila!

You can double, triple, add, subtract, make it your own this thing till the cows come home.

For mine, I used the single recipe, light/low-fat versions of everything and carefully measured the portions:

Hers: pre-baking

For Adam's, I used 6 cheeses and the "regular fat" versions of everything:

Manchego, Sharp Cheddar, Merlot Cheese, Provolone, Irish Cheddar, Parmesan

His: coming together into gooey goodness before baking

His: Bubbling and piping hot!

case of the Mondays

Monday night on Argyle Street consisted of a walk to the dog park with Thing 1 & Thing 2, Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas, House season finale, and Strawberry Banana Smoothies. The windows are open and the breeze is warm. Ahhh.




Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas (around 500 calories per enchilada)

2 1/2 cups cooked chicken breasts, chopped

2 cups preshredded reduced-fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese

1 2/3 cups plain low-fat yogurt

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 (10 ounce) can condensed reduced-fat reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup

1 (4 1/2 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained

8 (8 inch) flour tortillas

1 tablespoon canola oil

cooking spray

1/2 cup finely shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup green onion, chopped

1. 1 Preheat oven to 350°.
2. 2 Combine the first 9 ingredients in a large bowl. Remove 1 cup of mixture and set aside.
3. 3 Spray 13 by 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
4. 4 Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Oil both side of one tortilla and heat in skillet for 5 seconds per side. 
5. Remove from pan and place 1/2 cup of chicken mixture in the middle of tortilla. Roll tortilla jelly roll style and and place seam side down into the baking dish. Repeat with remaining 7 tortillas.

1. 
   
2. 
   
3. 5 Spread the reserved 1 cup of chicken mixture over the tortillas.
4. 6 Cover and bake for 20 minutes.
5. 7 Uncover, spread with cheddar cheese and green onions, and bake for 5 additional minutes.

6. 

   Forgot the green onion- oopsies!

   
   

Strawberry Banana Smoothies (approx 200 calories per serving)

2 bananas

2-3 cups frozen strawberries

1/2 c. skim milk

1/4 c. plain fat free yogurt

3 packets splenda

Polenta = Dinner Grits

I thought about titling this entry "Grits is just ground up corn" because this clip from Outsourced kept running through my mind when preparing this meal. This package of polenta just made me laugh.

Thursday night, I made Parmesan Polenta and Spicy Sausage Sauce.

It was easy, tasty, and under 320 calories. 

It called for a handful of fresh herbs. I haven't started an herb garden yet (long overdue) so I opted to dry the extras so I didn't feel so wasteful.

Today is my traditional day off, but I only have the morning so I prepped two meals for later in the week. Stay tuned for Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas and "His & Hers Mac & Cheese."