Mar 15, 2011 Posted by Jennifer on Mar 15, 2011 in chicken, Dinner Idea, Food Finds, grocery store ideas, stir fry, vegetables | 9 comments

Black rice

Have you ever had black rice? Me either until tonight. In fact, I don’t ever recall seeing it at the store before. I was in the rice section looking for quinoa, and the bag of quinoa they had at my local store was almost $7! I knew I could buy it cheaper at Trader Joe’s. Then I saw a bag of this black and mahogany rice.

This black rice is gluten free, vegan, kosher, and contains 100% whole grain. After reading more about black rice, I found that it is becoming more popular as people are learning this is a super food. The dark pigment of the rice gives it the same antioxidant properties such as blueberries. Some antioxidants in black (and brown) rice are fat-soluble, while anthocyanins* are water-soluble and can therefore reach different areas of the body, says Joe Vinson, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania. Black rice should be included as part of a varied diet.

*Anthocyanin pigments are responsible for the red, purple, and blue colors of many fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, and flowers.

The one downside? It takes 50 – yes that is FIFTY minutes to cook. It’s the same ratio as cooking rice – you use 1 cup rice to 2 cups water.

I put it on as soon as I got home from work. Did a few things around the house, picked up my older son from school, and by the time we got back, it was done in about 10 minutes.

I decided to just cut up 3 chicken breasts into bite size pieces and saute those in a skillet with a little olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Next I cooked about a half a bag of Trader Joe’s green beans.

So for my dinner, I just piled on some green beans, a big spoonful of black rice on top of that, some chicken and a drizzle of stir fry sauce. So good! And all three of my kids loved the rice! So that’s a winner in my book

For more information about this rice and other recipes, visit Lundberg Black Japonica’s site HERE.

The one thing I forgot to mention is how does it taste? To me it had the same texture and taste as brown rice. Other people have described that it has mushroom taste to it, but I hate mushrooms, and I didn’t taste that flavor in it at all.

If you live in the Chicagoland area – I bought this rice at Dominick’s. You can also check here at their store locator and see if it’s sold near you.

Have you ever tried black rice? What do you make with it?

Dec 12, 2010 Posted by Jennifer on Dec 12, 2010 in breakfast, eggs, Food Finds, product review, recipe make over | 5 comments

Egg/potato pancake stack

I didn’t do a full grocery shop last week, so I was faced with running to the store last Thursday to pick up dinner. And believe it or not, I did NOT feel like cooking! So, into the frozen food section I went. I ended up getting Gordon’s fish fillets and a new kind of frozen potato product I hadn’t seen before.

It’s from McCain’s brand foods and they were called baby cakes, like miniature potato pancakes with a wonderful seasoning on them. I checked the label, 4 were only 170 calories, so into my cart it went. It was a super easy dinner, just throw everything in the oven.

My whole family loved the potato pancakes, so that got me to thinking about my breakfast the next day…

I cooked these in a skillet for about 5 minutes per side and set aside.

Meanwhile, I took 1 egg, 2 egg whites, 1 oz. of turkey deli meat and 1/2 oz. of cheddar cheese and scrambled that altogether until cooked.

Then I just started stacking the egg mixture between the potato pancakes.

This huge breakfast was 410 calories, it kept me full all morning!

Have you tried those potato pancakes before?

Nov 17, 2010 Posted by Jennifer on Nov 17, 2010 in Food Finds, general ideas, vegetables | 3 comments

Muir Glen Reserve Tomatoes/Biggest Loser re-cap

When I got home from work last night there was a package waiting for me. I knew exactly what it was, so I was excited to open it up. Muir Glen was nice enough to send me a free box of their reserve Organic canned tomatoes!

Just as many Napa Valley wineries bottle both a house wine and special Reserve line that gets a bit more attention, Muir Glen also harvests and cans a limited run of Reserve Tomatoes each year. The 2010 Reserve Organic Tomatoes are grown for Muir Glen in Yolo County, California, near Sacramento under certified organic practices. The tomatoes are hand harvested and this year the varieties in their special Reserve kit include: One can of Meridian Ruby Fire Roasted Tomatoes, One can of Meridian Ruby Diced Tomatoes, One can of Organic Chipotle Seasoned Petite Diced Tomatoes and One can of Tomato sauce.

To kick off the season, Muir Glen enlisted 5 chefs from around the country to create recipes using these Reserve tomatoes. Included in my box of canned tomatoes is a recipe book with 5 recipes these chefs created, such as spinasse ragu, chicken with wild mushrooms and tomato, Creamy tomato soup, orecchiette with braised kale, fire-roasted tomatoes and grill italian sausage and tomato, blue cheese and proscuitto bruschetta! It’s worth getting for those fantastic recipes!

It’s a cool gift idea for the foodie in your life. For only $8.00 you can send this to your friend or family member for the Holidays! It comes in a cute wooden crate, and includes the 4 cans of tomatoes and the recipe book! To order your reserve kit, visit www.muirglen.com. It’s that easy!

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Spoiler alert – Biggest Loser

Who watched Biggest Loser last night? I must say that I did get a little teary eyed in the beginning when people got to watch their videos from home. And I especially felt bad for Ada. Even though her family was contacted about making a video from her, they got no response from her family! What the hell? It sounds like from what she has said so far her parents are a little less than loving, and have made her feel worthless most of her life, so it’s no wonder she started packing on the pounds. I did think it was nice that the rest of the cast made a video for her telling her how awesome she was. I think everyone needs that once in a while!

I also can’t wait for next week because they mentioned ANOTHER past contestant who has gained their weight back, I wonder who that can be? And of course I love the make-over episode so that should be good too.

Who do you think is going to win this year? I think it might be Ada or Frado.

Nov 10, 2010 Posted by Jennifer on Nov 10, 2010 in Dinner Idea, farmer's market, Food Finds, general ideas, stir fry, vegetables | 9 comments

Thinking about Thanksgiving already!

I subsribe to so many different cooking sources via e-mail that the last few days all the Thanksgiving recipes have been making me excited for Thanksgiving!!

I wanted to share a few links with you if you are hosting the event yourself or just need to bring a side dish/dessert.

The first set of recipes comes from:

Eating well has an accompanying website EATINGWELL.COM

Their list of MANY side dishes is HERE. Some of my favorites are lemon/dill green beans, pear proscuitto and hazelnut stuffing and maple-roasted sweet potatoes!

And my buddy Bobby Flay posted an awesome 2 minute video with his pomegranate black pepper glaze. The glaze is comprised of pomegranate molasses, dijon mustard, horseradish and salt and pepper.

Click HERE to watch the video.

So, who’s hosting dinner this year and for how many people?

*******Also, I’ve tried a few new things this week:*******

I mentioned before that the grocery store I go to has a ton of different kinds of fruits and veggies.

Has anyone had a quince?

I never have before and I wish I would have looked it up before I cut into it:

The quince is a fruit Native to Latin America, The middle East, Asia and is related to the apple or pear. I knew that fact, so I cut it up like an apple and me and my family tasted it. It was super grainy, tough, not too sweet, we all spit it out!

Fast forward to me actually reading how to eat a quince and you are supposed to cook it first! Whoops! And you are supposed to peel the skin as well. The most common method is cooking it in a simple syrup which softens the flesh and makes it sweeter.

There are many ways of preparing quince but the most basic method is poaching, or heating quince in a water and sugar mixture, from eHow.com

Difficulty: Moderate
Instructions

Things You’ll Need:
6 large Quince fruits
Knife
Spoon
Large saucepan 3 cups Water 1/2 cup Granulated sugar

1. Rinse quince under warm water and rub gently to remove any outer fuzz. Pat dry and use knife or peeler to remove the outer skin.

2. Cut quince lengthwise in half to expose the core and seeds. Use a spoon to scoop out core and seeds, then chop the quince into wedges or thin slices

3. Heat 3 cups of water and 1/2 cup of sugar in a large saucepan on stove over high heat until boiling. Reduce heat to medium.

4. Place quince pieces gently into water and sugar mixture. Heat until quince turns pink, which can take up to an hour.

5. Serve quince warm or at room temperature. Store leftover quince in a container with the cooking liquid for up to one week in the refrigerator.

Well, I learned my lesson to do a little research BEFORE I cut in to something and taste it! Ha!

Another new vegetable I tried this week?

I’ve had regular cauliflower and purple cauliflower, so I thought why not try orange? I added to my stir fry I had for dinner tonight.

My kids asked me how come it was orange and I didn’t know why, so I looked that up too!

First discovered in 1970, the orange cauliflower is able to naturally hold more beta carotene than white cauliflower. Because of this it has 25% more Vitamin A than white cauliflower. Who knew?

I thought it was delicious!

Oct 27, 2010 Posted by Jennifer on Oct 27, 2010 in Dinner Idea, Food Finds, general ideas, grocery store ideas, lunch, pasta, pizza, vegetables | 6 comments

What’s the difference between canned Tomatoes??

I kept wondering this question when I am at the store. I make homemade pasta sauce pretty much every week. Sometimes I buy whole tomatoes, sometimes pureed, sometimes crushed, why so many varieties, and what should you buy for what you are making? So, I did a little research and here’s what I found out:

Whole Tomatoes: Whole, firm tomatoes packed in their own juices. You can use whole tomatoes in soups, stews, spaghetti sauce, casseroles and chili. Once you open the can, you can chop, hand crush or slow simmer them to go into any recipe.

Diced Tomatoes: Tomatoes diced and packed in their own juices. You can use them in Italian and mexican dishes, chili, soups and stews. These are great to keep on hand year round to add to pasta sauce or soup.

Stewed tomatoes: Tomatoes, that are sliced and seasoned with onions, celery and bell peppers. You can use stewed tomatoes in vegetable dishes, casseroles, soups, stews, chili, mexican and Italian dishes. You can also just heat and serve as a great side dish or they can be sauteed with sliced zucchini and onion for a simple ratatouille!

Crushed tomatoes: Tomatoes concentrated for a texture between sauce and diced. You can use crushed tomatoes in pasta sauces which yields a hearty authentic texture. You can also add them to every day salsa for more body and fresh taste or add chopped onions and cilantro for even more flavor.

Tomato paste: Tomatoes strained to an extra thick paste with salt, spices and flavors. You can use tomato paste in pasta sauce (it’s a nice thickener) or lasagna, pizza, chili, casseroles, soups and stews. You can also use it like a bouillion, by adding a tablespoon or two to soups, sauces, crock pot dishes or to gravy.

Tomato puree: Tomatoes that are a texture between crushed and paste. You can use tomato puree in soups, gravies, sauces, casseroles, and meatloaf.

Tomato sauce: Tomatoes which are slow cooked with salt, spices and flavors for the perfect sauce. You can use this for pasta sauce, lasagna, meatloaf, chili, stews, casseroles and mexican dishes.

I don’t have a certain brand loyalty when it comes to canned tomatoes, I usually get what’s on sale.

Here is my basic pasta sauce which I tweak a little differently each week, depending on what fresh veggies I have. I’ll start with a can of tomatoes (usually 28 oz. can) and then I’ll add another smaller can of tomato sauce, veggies, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper and sometimes I’ll add either cooked ground beef, or cooked Italian sausage just to mix it up.

This version of my pasta sauce

1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 Melrose peppers, seeds removed (or you can use green peppers instead)
1/2 white onion
2 medium fresh tomatoes – threw the whole thing, seeds and all in!
4 cloves of garlic
2 links of mild Italian sausage, casing removed
1 teaspoon fennel, chopped
1-2 tsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

In a medium skillet, cook the Italian sausage and drain any fat off. Meanwhile, in a blender, add the crushed tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, melrose peppers, onion and garlic and puree until smooth. Add that to the cooked Italian sausage, and then add the rest of the spices. Cook for about 20 minutes. Then I added the fresh parmesan cheese and let that melt into the sauce.

*These are what Melrose peppers look like, just in case you don’t know:

Another thing that you can do if you open any type of canned tomatoes, or paste is that you can freeze any leftovers in the freezer for a few months in a ziploc bag. Just one tip, label the tomato paste! Once I thought I added tomato paste to a recipe, and it turned out to be canned pumpkin! Ewww!!!!