Olive Garden Salad Dressing

This was on my Facebook today.  I haven't tried it yet, and I'm not sure how I feel about the vegetable oil in there, but anyway, it's worth reposting.

Olive Garden Salad Dressing
Ingredients:
1/2 C mayo
1/3 C white vinegar
1 t vegetable oil
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
2 T grated Romano cheese
1/4 t garlic salt
1/2 t dried Italian seasoning
1/2 t dried parsley flakes
1 T lemon juice
Sugar to taste (optional)

Instructions: Mix all ingredients in a blender until well mixed.  If this is too tart for you, add sugar a little at a time.  Store for up to 10 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Notes
This can also be used for a marinade for vegetables or meats for grilling.

Bean Bolognese

One of the hardest things I've been dealing with as a flexitarian is trying to come up with enough grains.  Fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as dairy sources, are easy enough to work in to my diet.  But grains... I was never very good about it before, and now I find it even harder.  Grains are so easy to skip when most of what I eat is raw.  Raw grains aren't very easy to eat, and I just don't take much time to cook.

So.

I went searching today for something that was both healthy and grain-based.  Bonus if it was interesting.  And that's when I found this recipe, from Cook This, Not That.  Enter: Bean Bolognese.

I ate a few bites so the layers would be more visible.
Also, my not smart cell phone takes terrible pictures.

Ingredients

1 14-ounce can salad beans, (see Shopping Tip) or other beans, rinsed, divided

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped carrot

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup white wine

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided

8 ounces whole-wheat fettuccine

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1.  Put a large pot of water on to boil. Mash 1/2 cup beans in a small bowl with a fork.
2.  Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery and salt; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. 

4.  Add garlic and bay leaf; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add wine; increase heat to high and boil until most of the liquid evaporates, 3 to 4 minutes. 

5.  Add tomatoes and their juices, 2 tablespoons parsley and the mashed beans. Bring to a lively simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 6 minutes. 

6.  Add the remaining whole beans; cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes more.
7.  Meanwhile, cook pasta in the boiling water until just tender, about 9 minutes or according to package directions. Drain.
8.  Divide the pasta among 4 bowls. Discard the bay leaf and top the pasta with the sauce; sprinkle with Parmesan and the remaining parsley.

Tips & Notes

Shopping tip: A can of salad beans, a mixture of chickpeas, kidney and pinto beans, adds depth and variety to this recipe. If you can't find it, substitute a can of your favorite beans.

About the wine: if you're used to cooking without it, you won't even miss it.

Next time I make this, I think I'll add a bit more spice to the pasta water, and maybe to the sauce as well.  I found both of them too bland for my liking.  Maybe a little Cajun seasoning (a favorite of mine, as you might know from previous recipes), or something else with a little kick.

Nutrition (per Cook This, Not That)

Per serving: 443 calories; 11 g fat ( 3 g sat , 6 g mono ); 9 mg cholesterol; 67 g carbohydrates; 19 g protein; 14 g fiber; 707 mg sodium; 281 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (70% daily value), Vitamin C (25% dv), Magnesium (24% dv), Calcium (20% dv).

Quinoa Greek Salad

I was craving something tasty to go with the Spinach and Feta Bread I got at Great Harvest yesterday.  I remembered bookmarking this recipe a while ago, so when Ryan and I decided we wanted to eat healthy I grabbed this.  Pretty dang tasty, and it looked BEAUTIFUL!

Quinoa Greek Salad
1 cup milk

1/2 cup water
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp each, salt & pepper
1 cup quinoa (rinsed)
grated zest of one lemon
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 sweet pepper (any color), chopped
1/2 English cucumber, chopped
1/2 diced red onion
1 cup drained rinsed canned red beans (I used kidney beans)
1 cup diced Feta cheese

In a deep saucepan (or rice cooker), combine milk, water, oregano, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Stir in quinoa.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  Let stand covered 5 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl.  Stir in lemon zest with fork; let cool.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Serve or refrigerate up to one day.

That's Ryan's beautiful table and plate.

Notes: We were out  of milk, so I used 1 cup vegetable broth and just kept an eye on the water level until it was cooked (more than 20 minutes for me).  We also used a whole cucumber, which was fine, a whole shallot (I don't like onions), and a full can of beans and full 8 oz box of Feta.

Thanks to orgjunkie.com for the recipe!

Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken and Stuffing

6 chicken breasts (2 lbs tenders)

1 can cream of chicken

¼ c milk

6 oz cheese or 6 slices

1 box chicken stovetop stuffing

½ c butter, melted

Spray crock pot with cooking spray.  Arrange chicken on bottom of crock pot.  Top with cheese, layering as necessary.  Combine soup and milk, pour over cheese.  Sprinkle stuffing package over top.  Drizzle melted butter over stuffing.  Cook high 4-6 hours on high, 8-10 hours on low.

Notes: I cooked this on high for about 5 1/2 hours, and it turned out a little dry.  I used a 7 oz bag of Mexican blend grated cheese.  Might have been the lack of fluids?  Would probably put a 1/2 cup water with the chicken next time and see if that helps.  Took about 3 minutes to dump everything in and then I pretty much just let it do its thing all day though, so it was super easy and I'll definitely make it again.

Product Review: Kaboom Foam-Tastic with Oxi Clean

This past week, we've been doing a little deep cleaning in the apartment.  Specifically, I've been cleaning the grout in the kitchen (part of it anyway, we split it 3 ways) and the grout in the shower.  When I tried to clean what must have been years of black build up in the kitchen grout a couple of summers ago, it took TONS of elbow grease and bleach water, and I didn't get very far because I got pissed that it was so hard.  This time around, I wanted to try to "work smarter, not harder" so I took a trip to Walmart to see what I could find.  Enter: Kaboom.  I love their spray cleaner in the bathroom (so long as the windows are open: that stuff is POWERFUL), and so I decided to give their foam cleaner a try.  (Official Product Website)

The kitchen grout was AMAZING.  Spray it on, let it sit until it turns white (at a little longer, maybe 10 or 15 mintues), and then just a little scrub with a stiff-bristle cleaning brush and BAM the grout looks great!  With the exception of some cooking oil stains that have soaked into the grout, it's pretty dang clean.  All the surface gunk is gone.  And it was SO EASY (though be sure to wipe up with a damp rag after; wouldn't want that just hanging around to get on your bare feet...).  I've spent longer amounts of time brushing my teeth; each "section" (one end of a tile) took about a minute to scrub, so a 4x4 square takes about 12-15 minutes for all grout edges.  Not too bad.

The hard water in Pocatello is pretty bad, and we end up with orange hard water (or maybe mildew?) stains all over the grout in the bathroom.  Just going over the shower grout alone (not the tiles) and letting it sit for 10 or 15 mintues and then a quick scrub with my brush (maybe 5 minutes on that same 4x4 square), and the orange stains are.. way less.  Not gone.  Maybe if I spent more time scrubbing they would be, but in my experience it takes something pretty drastic (CLR anyone?) to really get Idaho hard water stains like that completely off, and I just didn't want to spend that much time in a rented apartment.  It did get rid of some of the other gross stuff too though, and I was overall really impressed by the major LACK of work on my part.

Overall rating, 8/10.  What did I expect from the same company that makes Arm & Hammer baking soda?  I would have given it a 10 in that it does what it's designed to do EXTREMELY well, but it also feels a little bit dangerous, though it's not terribly so (check out the Material Data Safety Sheet for details).  I mean, I wouldn't use it around very small children (let dad take them out for ice cream!) or in a daycare setting because Kaboom products in general pack a pretty powerful punch, but the smell wasn't too bad and it did a REALLY good job on the floors.  Plus, it didn't damage my rings (which I totally forgot to take off).  Don't use it around bleach though... not a good chemical mixture.

Three Cheese Spinach Lasagna

Lasagna has always been a family favorite, so when my sister became a vegetarian Mom was eager to find a meatless recipe.  We all agree that this is better than her original (which was pretty good to begin with!) and I've had lots of success with the friends I've made it for.  Also, cut into individual serving sizes, then wrapped in plastic wrap and then foil, this makes for great freezer dinners.  Just cut it into bite sizes and cover when reheating in the microwave (you might want to sprinkle a little extra cheese on top and zap for an extra ten seconds).

1 cont. (15 0z.) ricotta cheese

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

¾ tsp. dried Italian seasoning

¼ tsp pepper

1 jar (26 oz.) marinara sauce

1 pkg. (8 oz.) oven-ready lasagna noodles

2 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 10 oz.

1 jar (16 oz.) Alfredo pasta sauce

Preheat oven to 375* F.  Lightly coat 13X9 baking dish with cooking spray.  In medium bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, Parmesan, Italian seasoning and pepper until well blended.

Spread 1 cup marinara sauce over bottom of dish.

Top with 3 noodles. 1 cup ricotta mixture, ½ cup mozzarella and 1 cup Alfredo sauce.

Top with 3 noodles, 1 cup marinara sauce, 1 cup ricotta mixture, ½ cup mozzarella.

Top with 3 noodles, then remaining Alfredo sauce and ricotta mixture.

Sprinkle with ½ cup mozzarella, top with remaining noodles and marinara sauce.

Cover lasagna with foil.  Bake until bubbly and noodles are tender, 45 minutes.  Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella.  Bake, uncovered, 10 minutes.  Cool 5 minutes before cutting.

Tips: Mom has her favorite sauce brands and I have mine, so just get what you generally like, but definitely get the American Beauty brand of pasta noodles (the right amount in the box, plus they just cook better).  Since this recipe is a few years old, you might have to get slightly smaller jars (I had a 15 oz. Alfredo sauce jar last time) and just use a not-quite-full measuring cup.  Definitely give yourself plenty of prep time (half an hour at least).  Make sure to do this in a location that's easy to clean up (it's messy!), and I like to have two different 1 cup measuring cups - one for sauces and cheese and one for the ricotta mixture - to make it easier.  The ricotta is hard to "spread" evenly, but it kind of works itself out in the oven, so just use a wooden spoon to glob it out semi-evenly over the dish.  Your noodles won't be puzzle piece tight, but that's ok.  Lay them down in the following pattern: layer 1: =| layer 2: |= layer 3 =| (or just the opposite) so that they overlap/interlock with each other.  To be on the safe side, bake on top of a foil covered baking sheet (better the baking sheet than the bottom of your oven if it bubbles out or drips).

Chicken Pot Pie

This is one of my favorite things to eat of all time!

1 pkg (10 oz) frozen peas and carrots

1/3 C butter

1/3 C flour

1/3 C chopped onion

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 3/4  C chicken broth

2/3 C milk

2 1/2 - 3 C cut up pre-cooked chicken or turkey

Pastry for 9"  2 - crust pie

Rinse frozen peas and carrots in cold water to separate; drain.  Heat butter in 2 quart saucepan over medium heat until melted.  Stir in flour, onion, salt, and pepper.  Cook stirring constantly with wire whisk until mixture is bubbly, remove from heat.  Stir in broth and milk.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir 1 min.  Stir in chicken and vegetables.  Heat oven to 425.  Follow pastry directions. Spread on pastry in bottom of pan.  Pour chicken mixture into pastry-lined pan. Put second pastry on top of mixture.  Trim edges and flute.  Bake 35 minutes until golden brown.

Tips: Don't over-fill your crust!  There might be a little bit of filling left over, just discard it.  I like to use Pillsbury crusts.  There's a good chance the pie will "leak" little bit while cooking, so I put my glass pie dishes on a foil-lined metal baking sheet (no difference in cooking time).  Mom pokes fork holes in her top crust while I like to score a few little half moons into mine, but either way make sure to vent it.