Bacon Wrapped Cod with Potato Croquettes

We made this using leftover Thanksgiving mashed potatoes! Super easy dinner. 

Leftover mashed potatoes

egg, whisked

breadcrumbs

S&P

garlic powder

cod

bacon

1. Form mashed potato cakes, keeping cold in fridge or freezer until just before you cook them. 

2. Heat oil (I used canola, a higher heat oil) over medium heat in a large pan. 

3. In a shallow bowl, whisk egg. In another shallow bowl, combine breadcrumbs with some S&P and garlic powder. 

4. When oil is rippling, it's ready. Dip potato cake in egg, then breadcrumbs and place in fry pan. Continue with all potato cakes. Flip when the bottom is browned. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate when done.

5. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400. Season cod with S&P and wrap with bacon. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until fish is white through and bacon is done. (So easy, right? This baked while I made the potato croquettes.)

Serve with homemade tarter sauce :)

Mayo

pickles and their juice

S&P

Slice of lemon

Finely dice pickles, mix with mayo, little bit of pickle juice, S&P, and a little lemon juice.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

This was awesome! I made this to use up some leftover pumpkin and french bread. Delicious!

3/4 of a loaf of stale french bread, cut into 1 inch cubes (about 6 cups if I was to make a guess)

4 eggs

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk (I used skim)

1 cup canned pumpkin (about half of a can)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

pinch of salt

maple syrup (the real stuff only!), toasted pecans, and powdered sugar

1. Whisk together eggs, heavy cream, milk, pumpkin, vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Pour over bread and let sit for at least an hour at room temp, stirring occasionally if able.

2. Preheat oven to 375. Pour bread mixture into a buttered square baking dish. Bake 45 minutes. The top pieces of bread that are sticking out will crisp and start to brown. 

3. When done, drizzle top with maple syrup and top with toasted pecans. 

4. Serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and enjoy!

This could easily be doubled :)

A note about the bread... you probably don't want to use your average sandwich bread that you buy at the grocery store (unless it's fresh). It is preserved enough that it doesn't really get stale like fresh bread. The bread I used was so stale it was difficult to cut. But after soaking in custard, it was perfect!

Easy Breakfast

I started making this when I started working nights. I always want hot breakfast when I get home from night shifts. I'd cook this and do the dishes later! These potatoes taste awesome!!

1 small potato

your cheese of choice, shredded

1 egg

butter

S&P

Poke potato with a fork all over. Microwave on high until fork pokes easily through (for me, it takes 3-5 minutes depending on the size of the potato).

Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp butter over medium heat. When the potato is done, dice it, and add it to the pan. Sprinkle with S&P to taste and saute until browned, about 3 minutes. Set aside on your plate and top with your cheese of choice (it melts so nicely!). 

Add a little more butter to the pan (we use stainless steel pans, if using non-stick you probably don't need to do this). Cook your egg (I do mine over easy). Top your potatoes and cheese with your egg. If you have any fresh herbs (I used chives), throw those on and enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash with Sausage & Peppers

EVOO

Spaghetti Squash, sliced in half lenthwise, seeds scooped out

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Half a green pepper, sliced

2 links Italian Chicken Sausage, sliced

2 cups Easy Tomato Sauce

Parmesean

Rub cut sides of squash with EVOO and place cut side down on roasting pan. Roast at 425 degrees until easily pierced with a fork (30-45 min). Set aside.

Meanwhile, warm EVOO in skillet over medium heat. Add red pepper flakes and green pepper, saute until soft, about 5-10 minutes. Add chicken sausage (mine was fully cooked, so it just needed to be warmed). Mix in tomato sauce and warm through.

Using a fork, shred squash and add to sauce. Top with freshly shredded Parm and Enjoy!

*I normally would have added onion and garlic, but didn't have any on hand. I definitely encourage you to do so*

Easy Tomato Sauce

This recipe is adapted from a Williams Sonoma recipe (no wonder it's so good!)

EVOO

1-2 celery stalks, finely diced

1 carrot, peeled and finely diced

1/2 onion, diced

5 garlic cloves

8 tomatoes small to medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried thyme

S&P to taste

fresh herbs if you have any on hand (parsley, basil)

Saute the celery, carrots, and onion until soft, about 5-8 minutes over medium heat (in olive oil).

Add garlic, cook 1 minute more.

Add tomatoes with any juices, tomato paste, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to simmer, reduce heat to med-low, Cover. Simmer for about 10 minutes (the tomatoes start to break down. Discard the bay leaf.

You can either leave it like that, a chunky sauce (this is how we had it the first time we used this recipe); or process through a food mill (I used the largest disk, it still had some texture); or puree in food processor/blender for a smooth sauce. 

Stir in any fresh herbs.

Made 2 cups.

Chipotle Baked Beans

These were yummy, smokey and sweet!

4 cans assorted beans, rinsed (I used black, garbanzo, butter, and black soybean)

1 onion, diced

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 Tablespoon (Real) Maple Syrup

1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

2 chipotles, diced

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

S&P to taste

Combine ingredients in a baking pan and cover with foil. Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes, until hot and bubbling!

If you want to decrease the spiciness, you can use only one chipotle (smoked jalepenos, canned in the mexican food section), or you can seed the chipotles before dicing and adding them. 

Chocolate Oatmeal!!

Yes, that bowl is empty! We switched over to eating steel cut oats a while ago. Just one 1/4 cup (dry) serving has 5 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein. Add half a serving of semi-sweet chocolate chips (just 35 calories, 2 grams of fat, and 4 grams of sugar) and a dash of vanilla. It's so worth it.

Southwest Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

 Sorry, the picture is from about halfway through :) Too hungry to stop and take a photo right away! This was really good, smoky and sweet! 

2 sweet potatoes

EVOO

1 small onion, diced

1/2 can black beans, rinsed

1/2 can diced tomatoes

1 chipotle pepper, diced

1/2 tsp cumin

S&P

1. Pierce sweet potatoes and wrap in foil. Bake in a 400 degree oven until soft (about 45 minutes depending on size).

2. Once sweet potatoes are done, slice down the middle, scoop out the flesh, leaving 1/2 inch border. Roughly chop the sweet potato and set aside.

3. Heat EVOO over medium heat. Saute onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes, chipotle, sweet potato, cumin, S&P. Heat through.

4. Load filling into sweet potato. (I heated mine back up in the oven since I baked the sweet potatoes ahead of time and they weren't that warm anymore. If everything is hot, you could just serve it. Or, pop back in the oven to warm through.)

Enjoy!

Seared Scallops in White Wine Sauce

Our appetizer! This was sooooo good!

1/2 pound sea scallops

pinch red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup white wine

juice from 1/2 lemon

chives, minced

S&P

EVOO

1. Heat EVOO and red pepper flakes in a pan over med-high heat (coat the pan with the oil). Season scallops with S&P, sear in pan on both sides until cooked through. Set aside.

2. Reduce heat to med. Add garlic to pan, cook for 1 min. Deglaze pan with white wine (add wine, it will steam and bubble, use a wooden spoon to scrape up brown bits while this happens). Let wine reduce a bit (about 2 min). 

3. Add lemon juice, chives, S&P. Pour over scallops and enjoy (we dipped fresh bread into the sauce too!!)

Root Vegetable Hash (Variation) with Eggs Over Easy

We really like a root veggie hash recipe from our Eat Well Book; this looks the same, but it's got completely different vegetables! It's butternut squash, purple potatoes, and turnips!! And always, garlic and onions, EVOO and  S&P. We added Rosemary too :)

Dice 'em, Roast 'em. (425 for 30 min) Eat 'em.

Top with a perfectly cooked egg, over easy please!

Pulled Pork Tacos with Quinoa, Corn, & Bean Salad!!

These were awesome after a loonngg day at work :)

I started with 2.5 pounds of pork shoulder (boston butt!). The night before, I put it in the crockpot with: S&P, Cumin, Chili Powder, Mustard Powder, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Paprika, and little pinch of Cayenne Pepper. I stuck the bowl of the crockpot in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, Mike put it on for 8 hours on low before he left for work (I'm gone from home for almost 14 hours on a work day, even a crock pot won't stay on for that long!). Matt got to our house first for dinner and shredded the pork for us (Thank You!!). We had all the usual toppers: shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream, pickled jalepenos, and shredded cabbage. 

Wish I had taken a picture of the pulled pork, it was so good!

I also made a salad the night before with leftover black quinoa:

1 cup cooked quinoa

1/2 cup corn (I used frozen and just tossed it in the mix, it thawed overnight)

1 can pinto beans (rinsed)

1/4 cup finely minced red onion

1/4 cup cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

drizzle of EVOO

S&P

An easy do-ahead meal for a work day :)

Spaghetti Squash with Spinach & Roasted Tomatoes in White Wine Cream Sauce

This was our dinner tonight! It was so yummy :) 

EVOO

1 spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthwise, seeds scooped out

1 medium onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup white wine

1 bunch spinach, chopped

10 roasted tomatoes, large diced (we got ours from Earthfare's deli area)

1/3 cup heavy cream

pinch of nutmeg

freshly grated parmesean cheese

S&P

1. Rub a little EVOO on the cut side of the squash and place cut side down on a roasting pan. Roast at 400 degrees until soft when pricked with a fork, about 30 minutes. Scrape the flesh so it shreds, like spaghetti. 

2. Meanwhile, saute the onion in EVOO over medium heat until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, and saute one minute more. 

3. Add white wine to the pan and simmer until reduced some, about 2-3 minutes. 

4. Add spinach to pan and wilt down, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes.

5. Stir in cream and nutmeg, bring to a simmer. Let reduce for a few minutes. Season with S&P to taste. 

6. Top the spaghetti squash with the sauce and a little freshly grated parmesean, enjoy :)

Quinoa & Apple Salad with Toasted Pecans and Lemon Vinaigrette

This was my lunch today... delicious!

1 cup cooked quinoa (we had red on hand)

1/2 an apple, diced (I used a gala apple and ate the other half while putting this together)

2 sprigs green onions

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Juice of one lemon

1 tsp of white wine vinegar

EVOO (about 3 tablespoons)

S&P

1/4 cup toasted chopped pecans

1. Mix vinaigrette in bottom of a bowl: Put juice of one lemon, vinegar, parsley, green onions, S&P in bowl, whisk in EVOO.

2. Toss apple in vinaigrette to coat so they don't turn brown.

3. Mix in quinoa and pecans, Enjoy!

Cranberry & Goat Cheese Salad

No picture, Sorry!

I've had several salads with goat cheese and cranberries, it's just a great combo!

Salad greens for 2 people (about 3 cups)
2 Tablespoons dried cranberries
2 ounces plain goat cheese
1 Tablespoon toasted pine nuts
Your Basic Vinaigrette with a little Dijon Mustard OR your favorite vinaigrette

1. Mix up vinaigrette in the bottom of salad serving bowl. Add salad greens and other ingredients on top. Toss together just before serving.

Cauliflower Gratin

Obviously, the cauliflower is on the right :)

This recipe is tweaked from Bobby Flay's. Well, about the only thing that is the same is one head of cauliflower:

1 head of cauliflower, cut into bite size florets

1 cup heavy cream

1 and 1/2 cups shredded cheddar (we used a really good australian aged cheddar)

2 sprigs green onions, sliced thin

4 strips cooked bacon, diced

Pinch of white pepper

Pinch of nutmeg

S&P

1. Combine all ingredients, pour into a buttered casserole dish.

2. Cook at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender but not mush. Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving & enjoy!

*We had leftover bacon from that morning's breakfast so we tossed it in. It could be left out, but the green onion was awesome, I would definitely add some onion kind of onion if green onions weren't available. 

Quinoa, Spinach, and Sun-Dried Tomato Salad with Beans and Pine Nuts

This was delicious! Most recipes here are inspired by ingredients that happen to be on hand, this one in particular. My yummy lunch for today:

1/2 cup quinoa

EVOO

1/2 onion, diced

2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach

6 sun-dried tomatoes, large diced

1 (15 oz. I think) can cannellini  beans

2 Tablespoons Toasted pine nuts

S&P

1. Cook quinoa according to package; or, if you buy bulk like we do, cook it in a ratio of 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water, just like rice. So for this recipe, put 1/2 cup quinoa and 1 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer, covered, until liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. 

2. Meanwhile, warm EVOO in a skillet over medium heat, add onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and wilt. Mix in sun-dried toms and beans; heat through.

3. When quinoa is done, mix it in with the spinach, tomato, and bean mixture. S&P to taste. Top with toasted pine nuts & enjoy 

This made about 2 servings. 

Stock

We make our own stock on a regular basis; I don't remember the last time we bought it. It's super easy, throw everything in a pot and come back a few hours later. Sometimes we keep veggies throughout the week in a dish in the fridge, like carrot peels, onion peels and the ends you can never cut, garlic peels. We've even put in broccoli stems. At the end of the week, we throw it into a pot. Usually it's vegetable stock, but if we have chicken with the bones, we throw those in too. 

So, 

Into a large pot, throw in large diced veggies. Our usuals include:

Celery (we buy celery and cut it  into pieces and store it in the fridge packed with water so it's ready for snacking or cutting into a meal); we don't even use the "good" parts, just the ends, leaves, and pieces that don't look good for eating.

Carrots (we buy a large bag of whole carrots, peel them and store the same as celery), we use all the peels and ends

Onion, usually one whole, quarter with the peel still on

Garlic, one bulb (or partial if that's what we have) cut down the middle to expose the fresh garlic

Herbs (usuals are parsley, thyme, bay)

Whole peppercorns (about a teaspoon)

Salt (mike doesn't add any, I do, but not a lot)

Cover with water, about an inch or so over the veggies. Simmer uncovered for 2-4 hours. You'll notice it reducing down and getting darker. This is the flavors concentrating. 

You want to reduce the liquid by about half. 

Strain into a bowl (you will need a finer, mesh strainer to catch all those peppercorns)

Let cool. Divide into smaller storage containers and freeze. 

Enjoy your "free" stock made from your kitchen scraps in soups, stews, pastas, etc. 

Grilled Cheese with Avocado & Bacon

This was awesome, just so you know!

Bread
Butter
1 Perfectly Ripe Avocado, sliced
A few pieces of cooked bacon
Asiago, shredded

Butter one side of the bread, place buttered side down in pan. Layer cheese, bacon, avocado, and more cheese on the slice of bread. Top with another slice of bread butter side up. Flip when browned on bottom. Tastes awesome, but it has bacon, so you already knew that!!

*No measurements for this one... There were two of us, we used half the avocado in the sandwiches, the other half we put S&P and ate straight up. Our store sells pre-shredded asiago. I put enough to cover the slice & make them stick together. Also, I have an awesome butter dish that keeps salted butter fresh at room temp, so I always have soft butter to spread, makes this a lot easier! Oh, and because we were both off this morning, we cooked up a whole pack of center cut bacon, so this was one way to use some of it up.

Goat Cheese & Roasted Beet Salad with Red Onion Vinaigrette

1 large golden beet (or whatever color you find at the store)
Salad Greens for 2 people (about 3 cups?, Arugula is one of our favorites)
2 oz Goat cheese

For the Vinaigrette:
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 EVOO
S&P
1/4 cup fine diced red onion
1 tsp Dijon mustard

1. Cut the the end off the beet and quarter. Wrap in an aluminum foil packet with EVOO to coat and roast at 400 degrees until soft when pricked with a fork (about an hour). When cool enough to handle, peel the skin off. (I often do this step the night before and just reheat in the microwave right before serving the salad.)

2. Mix vinaigrette: place vinegar, onion, mustard, S&P in a bowl, whisk in EVOO. Set aside.

3. Assemble salad: Divide greens between 2 plates, top with warm beets. Divide the goat cheese and top the beets (the warm beets soften the cheese ever so nicely). Top with vinaigrette & Enjoy!

*I can't take full credit for the beet/goat cheese combo; someone else's recipe inspired this, but it's still awesome :)

*As I might have mentioned, I don't measure when I cook, so some of these measurements are approximations. Don't be afraid to alter to your taste!!

Your Basic Vinaigrette

A little more oil than acid... That's my basic rule of thumb. 

So, 

1/3 cup vinegar (red wine, white wine, balsamic)

1/2 cup EVOO (or other good oil)

S & P to taste

You can put the vinegar in a bowl, add S&P and whisk in EVOO to emulsify (make it hold together) OR you can put it all in a sealed container and shake the heck out of it too. I find this to be much easier. 

Now that you know that basics, you can play with add ins. Like subbing in fresh squeezed lemon for the "acid" to make a Lemon Vinaigrette. Mix in fresh herbs like oregano and parsley for a Greek vinaigrette. A small dollop of Dijon mustard is a great emulsifier too; I add it to most vinaigrettes I make. 

When I cook, I tend to guestimate more than measure. Don't be afraid to eye-ball it. Don't be afraid to change a recipe to suit your taste better either.