Sunday, September 23, 2012

Wheat Berry Chili Recipe

Ingredients:
- 1 cup dry wheat berries 
- 3 cups water
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped 
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped 
- 4 tsp chili powder 
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- One 8 ounce can tomato sauce 
- One 28 ounce can diced tomatoes (strained) 
- One 15 ounce can kidney beans 
- One 15 ounce can white beans 
- Salt to taste 

Preparation: 
Cook wheat berries in 3 cups of water for approximately 1 hour, or until tender. Rinse wheat berries with cool water and drain throughly. 
In the microwave cook chopped onion, green and yellow peppers for about 1 minute to soften.
In a pot combine remaining ingredients with microwaved vegetables. On the stovetop, bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. 

Nutritional Information: 
This dish makes about 8 servings. 
Each serving provides approximately: 220 calories, 13g protein, 45g carbohydrates, 11g fiber, 1g fat (0g saturated), 0mg cholesterol, 19mg folate, 4mg iron, 845mg sodium.


Tuesday, September 18, 2012

OMG QUICHE!

For dinner tonight I had this homemade quiche my moms assistant, Janine, made for us. It is sooo good! It definitely ranks in my top 10 for most delicious things I have ever eaten! I don't have any idea how she made it but it was just so creamy and had the best flavors. It had egg (obviously) , broccoli, onions and ham in it and the crust was even good too. The best part however is the melted, baked cheese that tops off the whole thing. This quiche is perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and even though I didn't make it ,and I have no idea how it was made, it was so tasty that I thought it deserved to be put on my blog. Thanks Janine! OINK

Pesto Pasta!


Last night for dinner I made myself some Pesto Pasta! I boiled some water and made sure to wait until it started boiling to add the penne pasta. It took about 8 mins until my noodles were cooked and I wanted to make them al dente. I love al dente pasta! After I strained my noodles I put them into a small bowl and then added some delicious basil pesto sauce that I got at Whole Foods. I kinda put a lot on..... After that I got some freshly sliced parmesan cheese from my fridge, also bought at Whole Foods, and mixed that into my pesto pasta! It was fantastic and really easy to make! I could eat it all the time! OINK

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Barbecue Chopped Chicken Salad Recipe (CPK)

GRILLED GARLIC BBQ CHICKEN     
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons salt
20 oz pre cooked chicken 
1/4 cup sweet-&-spicy barbecue sauce
In a mixing bowl combine all the ingredients, make sure to throughly mix the barbecue sauce around with the chicken and other ingredients. After that put the chicken in the fridge for a while to "marinate" in the sauce. 


GARDEN HERB RANCH DRESSING
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cold water
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 cup buttermilk
8 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 tablespoon thinly-sliced scallion top, and whites
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced fresh Italian parsley
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon minced fresh dill
1/4 teaspoon minced dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh basil
In a mixing bowl, use a fork to stir together the mustard and cold water, forming a paste. Set aside for 10 minutes. Add the remaining dressing ingredients to the bowl and, using a handheld electric mixer at low speed or a whisk, blend together just until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

SALAD1/2 head iceberg lettuce 
1/2 head romaine lettuce leaf 
12 large fresh basil leaves
1 lb jicama
2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
1 cup canned black bean, rinsed drained
1 cup canned sweet white corn kernels, drained
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 lbs fresh ripe tomatoes
1 cup of fried tortilla strips (or just chips) 
In a large mixing bowl, toss together all of the ingredients including the dressing and chicken. 


Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Teriyaki!

For dinner tonight I went to a little restaurant called Teriyaki Express. I used to go there a lot but i hadn't been in a while. My favorite thing to get there is the Bento. The Bento comes in a little box with a bed of white, sticky rice at the bottom. On top they have teriyaki chicken with a really thick and delicious teriyaki sauce and next to the chicken they have vegetables, which includes carrots and broccoli. Finally,they add three fried chicken pot stickers, this is my favorite part of the whole thing. The pot stickers are the best ever and I dip them in sweet chili sauce. I also pour sweet chili sauce on top of the rice, chicken, and vegetables. The whole meal ended up being delicious as always! The only negative comment is that the chicken kinda had a bad aftertaste, but whatever! OINK

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Salads Day 2

Today the salads were all very different and each had their own unique flavor. The noodle salad had a very distinct flavor and the sesame seed dressing tasted delicious. The noodles seemed to be cooked very well. The vegetable salad with beans, edamame, white corn and tomatoes was really really good as well. I don't know what dressing was used in the salad but it seemed to make all the vegetables taste even better. Finally the spinach salad, which was also very tasty, had a lot of interesting ingredients. I had never had eggplant in a a salad before but i thought it tasted really really good with the feta cheese and spinach. OINK

Monday, September 10, 2012

Salads Day 1

All of the salads today were delicious!! The macaroni salad was very very tasty but still pretty simple. Also, I really like the freshness of the lettuce salad and the balsamic vinaigrette was delicious. Finally, the green bean salad was another very tasty, healthy salad which i have never heard of before. I really like the taste of the champagne dressing. Perfecto! OINK

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Snack Time!

This is what i ate before my dinner tonight. Although my Mom made it this time, I love to make anything that combines mozzarella with tomatoes and avocado. Usually I chop the ingredients up and throw it together in a bowl with some balsamic vinaigrette to make a salad. This night however my mom stacked thick, large slices of tomato and mozzarella on top of each other like a sandwich and put sliced avocado on the side. It was super douper tasty! We poured balsamic vinaigrette on top of the "stack" and then she sprinkled on some basil seasoning stuff, which made it even more delicious! It was a very good pre-dinner appetizer! OINK

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Mama's Salad

Last night my Mama made me a yummy salad. It had croutons, cranberries, carrots, chicken, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and avocado. Avocado is my favorite must-have ingredient to put in a salad, its very delicioso! While my Mom did most of the "cooking"  I contributed to this creation by choosing a dressing and pouring it on the salad. For my dressing I chose Balsamic Vinaigrette, yuuummm. <3 Overall, the salad was very tasty. However if i were to remake the salad again I would leave out the cranberries and maybe try a different dressing.....something stronger like Caesar. Then it would be near perfection!  OINK