Menu Plan Monday

OK, here goes, trying another Menu Plan Monday.

The biggest constraint that I have in planning my menu is speed. I (sometimes) have time to cook on the weekends, but during the week, not so much. Between work, commuting, part-time classes and the homework/studying they entail, and various social commitments, it can be hard getting a quick and easy dinner on the table by 7 PM. I just don't have time for long meals, and while I admittedly keep Starfish Cod and Bell & Evans chicken in the freezer for emergencies, I really don't want to live on convenience food. My goal is (relatively) healthy meals that are easy to prepare and don't exceed our (admittedly generous) grocery budget.

I usually allow one day a week for a "junky" dinner like pizza, nachos, or something like that. It's usually on Sundays (football day) but last week occurred during one of the Yankees-Rangers games. So we're trying to be healthy this week. :)

I'll start with Saturday (yesterday) since that's when I did my meal planning and grocery shopping:

Saturday - Salmon sauteed in olive oil, white wine and Old Bay. Served with baked potato, sauteed portabella mushroom (in white wine and garlic salt), and kernel corn.

Sunday - Crock pot chicken. Take a whole roaster chicken, cook in the crock pot for approx. 6 hours. Coat with BBQ sauce. Serve with potato, green beans.

Monday - Own own. Hubby usually does leftovers, I usually scarf down a KIND bar and a piece of fruit on my way from work to class.

Tuesday - Leftover chicken, rice, and mixed veggies (grean beans, corn, carrots).

Wednesday - Pasta. I'm planning a meatless take on Uno's Rattlesnake pasta - gluten free penne with alfredo sauce and broccoli. Mix together the ingredients, add a couple of jalapenos and a sprinkling of shredded cheddar cheese to melt on top of it. I make it a little better for me by steaming extra broccoli on the side and watching my pasta portions.

Thursday - Has to be another quick night because of hubby's bowling league. Pasta leftovers.

Friday - Fish night. Whatever looks good at Offshore Pier in East Greenbush or Two Cousins in Newton Plaza on the way home from work. When in doubt, baked tilapia.

For lunch this week, I am bringing in green salad with avocado (if it ripens in time, else chickpeas or crumbled cheese), fresh veggies, and my recently discovered favorite, raspberry viniagrette. :)

Annnnd the winner is....

mjdolce won the MyBlogSpark Bisquick gluten free giveaway. I'll be contacting you on Twitter shortly for your contact information.

Easy Appetizer: Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

I love Rachael Ray - she's fun, and she's got some awesome ideas. It doesn't hurt that she's originally from the 518 - before she was really huge I remember my mom taking me to a small class she was teaching on cheese. :)

Anyway - my husband and I found ourselves getting into a little food rut, so I went on her webpage for inspiration. Among other recipes, I found this yummy-sounding recipe for a pepperoni pizza puff appetizer. When I read it, the back of my mind was saying "I bet this could be another use for the GF Bisquick mix" and besides, everything in the recipe is pretty yummy so it has to be good right?

Well, yesterday we had some people over for a fire and pumpkin carving. I couldn't see this recipe really turning out badly (Yanno, the whole "there's no such thing as bad pizza or bad..." philosophy) and I know my non-gluten free friends (usually) don't mind being guinea pigs, so I tried them out.

They disappeared.

No one could even tell they were gluten free - they were a super yummy finger food!

Here's Rachael's recipe with my modifications:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup GF Bisquick baking mix
• 3/4 teaspoon GF baking powder
• 3/4 cup 2% milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup) - I used more. I had an open-but-mostly full package of mozzarella cheese that I emptied into the bowl, so I'd say I used something in the ballpark of 1.5 cups. Plus I used a little bit cheddar/mozz mix for sprinkling on top at the end - maybe .5 cup.
  
• 4 ounces pepperoni, cut into small cubes (about 1 cup) - I used about half a cup here but they definitely needed more.
  
• 1/2 cup store-bought pizza sauce - I used Ragu doctored with pizza spices.
  
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil - Added to the Ragu
  
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced - I omitted this.
  

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

2. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes. -- I baked them for 18 minutes, then let them out to cool for about 10. Right before people were supposed to get there, I sprinkled the puffs with some cheddar/mozz and put them back in just long enough to heat them up and melt the cheese - 5 minutes, if that.

3. Meanwhile, microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through, then stir in 1 tablespoon basil. Sprinkle the puffs with the remaining 1 tablespoon basil. Serve the puffs and red pepper slices with the pizza sauce for dipping.
   

I had the puffs on a platter, and you could spoon the hot pizza sauce onto plates for dipping them in. If I had to guess the puffs lasted about 15 minutes. :)

These are on my list to bring over to my GF mother-in-law's next time I see them - bonus, because everyone enjoys them! We had 5-6 people and I think I could have easily doubled the recipe and they still would have disappeared.

Review & Giveaway: Bisquick Gluten Free Mix

My husband and I had already tried pancakes with the new gluten free mix. While they were admittedly delicious, I've never been big on pancakes or any other sugary food for breakfast. I usually end up sticking with protein and complex carbs, or else I end up crashing around 10 AM and I'm cranky all the way until lunch, it's really not a good scene for anyone. Still, it was a huge treat for my gluten free hubby, who doesn't seem to have that issue. ;-)

After pancakes, the next thing I tried (per Lisa's suggestion) was the baked chicken. I decided to try the ultimate chicken tenders with BBQ dipping sauce, and they came out wonderfully - they were a huge hit and are likely to be a winter comfort food staple. I also tried mozzarella sticks using the same breading/Parmesan cheese recipe with mixed results.

With such encouraging results so far, when Bisquick and MyBlogSpark offered me a prize pack in return for writing a review of their product I jumped at the chance!

The one thing I hadn't tried with the new GF Bisquick mix was baking a yummy dessert. I thought about an apple crisp, but after Karina's lackluster review I decided to try a cinnamon streusel coffee cake. I found the inital recipe on Betty Crocker's website, and decided to modify some things:

• First of all, these things never have enough streusel topping. Automatically double the streusel recipe.
  
• I've had good experiences with adding a package of vanilla instant Jell-O pudding mix to the gluten free mixes. It helps to keep the cake moist for a few days.
  

Here's the final recipe that I came up with:

Ingredients

Streusel Topping:

• 2/3 cup GF Bisquick mix
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup of butter *NOTE I used only about half of this.
  

Cake:

• 1 3/4 cup GF Bisquick mix
• 1 package instant french vanilla Jell-O pudding mix
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 2/3 cup H2O (I added a couple of extra teaspoons by eyeballing the mix)
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 3 eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray 9-inch square (or round) pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl mix the dry streusel ingredients and add butter while mixing until it is crumbly.
   
2. In a medium bowl (I used our stand mixer), stir all coffee cake ingredients until blended. Add approximately half of the streusel ingredients to the cake mixture. Spread in pan; sprinkle with the rest of the streusel topping.
   
3. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown. Store tightly covered.
   

It came out REALLY good. Sweet, moist, chewy, and when it cooled off the next morning my hubby had a huge piece for breakfast (me, not so much, the whole sugary breakfast thing, but the piece I had last night was awesome). Definitely a keeper.

Now, for the good stuff. The folks at MyBlogSpark are providing one of my lucky readers a Bisquick pack of their own. It includes a (nice, cast iron) mini pancake pan, pancake pen, spatula, and of course a box of gluten free Bisquick baking mix.

To enter, please comment *on this blog post* and answer the following question:
What do you plan to make with the new Bisquick gluten free baking mix???

One entry per person, all entries must be submitted by 12:00 AM Monday, October 4th. (Happy Birthday, Samantha!). Thanks and good luck!!!

Our trip to the Latham Fresh Market

So, we checked out Fresh Market in Latham for the first time this weekend. I was extremely excited, as I'd heard wonderful things about it from my friends down South, and it's nice to have more competition and more choices for grocery stores in this area. We had to run some errands in Albany on Saturday morning and stopped there after a trip to Lowes up the road (off-topic: for a firepit! Yay to roasted marshmallows as soon as this rain clears up!).

The first thing that hit us was how nice everything looked. They're still doing construction on other stores in the plaza, but when we lived in the area everything was still under construction. The landscaping and main building were all done and absolutely beautiful. As soon as we entered the parking lot we were hit by the smell of something delicious on the grill, and we entered among a crowd of people.

The first stop was the produce department - one of the things I'd heard so much about. There was a ton of excitement in the store, and people were scooping up tons of produce into their carts. I put a couple of perfect-looking nectarines in my basket, and my next stop was the berries. Blackberries are a favorite of mine and they're only in season for a very short time. Examining the containers, I admired the big, plump berries, until I saw... fuzzy white mold.

Now, I know that berries get moldy very quickly and I always complain about this at Price Chopper. But, if you're a grocery store and it's your grand opening weekend, you should be on your A game and that's pretty inexcusable in my book.

I looked at some of the other produce, but I couldn't bring myself to spend money on it. $3.99/lb. for red peppers that are $1.99/lb. at Price Chopper (and bigger there!?) Now, I am all about shelling out for premium produce - I love the $6/lb. organic, hydroponically (and relatively locally) grown tomatoes that are just about perfection off-season. But I couldn't bring myself to spend that much per pound for peppers that I thought were better at a regular Price Chopper.

Next, onto the deli and butcher counters. They had some interesting cuts of meat, but there were so many people there that we didn't buy anything. We stayed around the perimeter of the store and saw a lot of the brands we liked, at a slight markup (example: Chobani yogurt for $1.59). The bakery smelled divine, but there were no gluten free baked goods (not that we were expecting any). The alcohol area was awesome - you could mix and match and create your own six pack! However, no Wood chuck or other gluten free options, so we passed on that. Still, it's nice for when we have company. My husband bought a bottle of Mexican Pepsi, but when we got home we realized that Mexican Pepsi is no longer like it was when we were on our honeymoon and is now made with HFCS just like American Pepsi.

When we made it into the aisles, we got a nice surprise: most of their gluten free items were labelled right on the shelves with a huge sign that said gluten free! Score! That got major points, right there. We picked up a couple of bags of Lundberg wild rice, and looked at some of the Thai and Indian sauces. Most of the stuff, though, we could find at Price Chopper, Hannaford, or natural food stores like the Green Grocer. There weren't a lot of NEW and INTERESTING items which I was a little disappointed by. If I'm going to pay a markup for these goods, I'll probably stick to buying locally.

The one interesting thing we saw was actually at the checkout. They had European sodas, 2/$6. My husband picked up a mandarin blood orange soda (he said it was OK, but he's more of an Orange Crush guy), and I bought a cranberry-lime soda. I'm planning on cracking it open when the girls are over for our monthly book club and adding some vodka - served with chocolate mice from Villa Italia. :-)

Overall? Mixed feelings about Fresh Market. I like that they bring more competition to the area, but I fear that after the novelty wears off they may not have what it takes to stick around. At least, not without upping their game.

Menu Plan Monday

I love the Menu Plan Monday theme that goes on - it's a great way to get ideas on what to make during the week. I've never really done it before because, well, I do my grocery shopping on Saturdays and tend to plan meals Saturday to Friday. (Weak excuse, I know.) However, I am trying to plan out a healthy "cleanse" week to look good in a cocktail dress over the weekend... either cutting out or limiting as much as possible all junk (desserts, chips, other processed foods), diet soda, vino, etc. Still allowing my non-negotiable cup of coffee every morning or I'd be unbearable to live/work with. :)

So without further ado, here's my "two-day-early" menu plan:

Saturday - We'll be doing sushi takeout this evening. I'll be ordering the following maki: tuna, salmon, shrimp, avocado and cucumber. Maybe with edamame or a salad (unfortunately most ginger dressing is not gluten free - when we go out to eat Japanese food we bring a little bottle of ranch!)

Sunday - Leftover night. I have some rice and beans in the freezer - brown rice, kidney beans, green pepper, red onion, kernel corn, and a jar of medium salsa. It's always better leftover because the flavors tend to mix well, and also freezes pretty well. My hubby mixes in mild taco sauce, I like to add a drop or to of habanero sauce to mine. Sprinkle with monterey jack cheese and you're golden. You can eat it with a spoon, wrap it up on corn tortillas, or even use Tostitos Scoops to eat it.

Monday - Grilling! Chicken marinated in Italian dressing, grilled veggies (white mushrooms, red peppers, sweet onions, maybe some other stuff if it looks good). A boiled yellow squash with salt and pepper for me, Lundberg Farms risotto for my hubby.

Tuesday - Fresh fish (TBD, I like to pick it up from the market that day and see what looks good). Served with broccolini and baby red potatoes.

Wednesday - Grilled shrimp skewers, and grilled veggies again (white mushrooms, red peppers, sweet onions, maybe some other stuff if it looks good). Another boiled yellow squash for me, and leftover risotto for my hubby.

Thursday - Grilled chicken again (what, there are 5 portions in those "Perfect Portions" bags!) Still marinated in Italian dressing. This time with corn on the cob and leftover baby red potatoes.

Friday - Thinking of picking up snow crab legs with baked potato and steamed broccoli. As long as it looks good and isn't exorbitant - plan B is sauteed shrimp with the same sides.

Recipe: Granola Bars Modified From Monster Cookies

Back around Christmas-cookie-season, I wrote about Monster cookies. My friend Liz made these for the girls' holiday cookie swap, and they were amazingly good - when she told me the basic ingredients (no wheat) I was even more intrigued.

The first time I made them, I was struck by how much they tasted like one of those Quaker granola bars (which while, unfortunately, are not gluten free, my husband LOVED in his gluten-eating days). He requested that the next time I make them I try to duplicate the granola bar recipe a little more, maybe with some additional flavors. Well, winter turned into spring, spring turned into summer, and between MBA classes, a new house, and a busy work schedule things kitchen experimentation sort of fell by the wayside for a little while there. (Shame, too, because I have a kitchen dedicated to gluten free baking now!)

Well, he's working all weekend on a huge project, and while they're getting pizza for all the other people, he's not expecting to have anyone accommodate him. :-( So he brought some dinner and decided to bring some snacks in to get him through a couple of 18-hour days. I figured, this is the best time to re-visit these Monster cookies!

I used pretty much the same recipe as last time, but cut down a little bit on the sugar and added different stuff:

Ingredients

* 3 eggs
* 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar (halved from last recipe)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 12-ounce jar creamy peanut butter (I had a 40 oz jar, so I approximated this with a cup and a half - could be a little more, or a little less)
* 1 stick butter, softened
* 2 teaspoons baking soda (I didn't have any baking soda, so I used 1 tsp. baking powder and 1 tsp. cream of tartar as a substitute)
* 4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant) (And of course, gluten free!)

Instead of the chocolate (which my husband hates) and raisins, I added almost an entire package of chopped up dried apple - if I had to estimate a little more than a cup - and a large handful of chopped walnuts.

By the way, a side note/tip: Using the Slap Chop on dried apple rings? Not a great idea. Manually chopping the apple rings with a knife worked leagues better.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.

In a very large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins, if using, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not overbake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large resealable plastic bags.

I started out trying triangles, but they came out kind of roundish-squarish. They taste REALLY good though! We're going to try to freeze some of them as well. I think next time I could probably get rid of the granulated sugar completely.

Thank you, Paula Dean and Food Network for the original recipe!