Crispy Roasted Potatoes & Garlic Scapes

 

So what the heck is a garlic scape? One of the many reasons I love farm shares is because some of the offerings are fruits and veggies (even herbs) that we may not normally select at the grocery store. In this past weeks share we had garlic scapes - huh? I Googled recipes and found mostly garlic scape pesto which isn't really something that we eat. So the first time they were in our share, I tossed in some olive oil, a little salt and pepper and roasted. I know - pretty basic and boring, but they were delicious! To me they had the consistency of green beans crossed with asparagus but tasted lightly garlic and oniony. 

We were hosting Christopher's Godparents who were in from California and the next week we received more garlic scapes in. So I decided to sauté the garlic scapes and toss with some roasted, smashed potatoes. For the garlic scapes I tossed in a little olive oil and sautéed on the stove top for about 8 minutes. 

For the roasted smashed potatoes, I boiled a large pot of water and boiled a baby potato medley from Aldi (not our farm share or produce box) for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes were soft enough to smash, but not totally cooked through. I drained the baby potatoes, lined them up on my cookie sheet and using the bottom of a pint glass, gently pressed down on the potato to flatten the potato a bit. Then I brushed the tops of the potatoes with some Wegmans Basting Oil (my favorite!), salt and pepper, and baked for 12 minutes at 400. Nice a crispy on the outside but still soft on the inside. 

I served the potatoes and garlic scapes together but you could totally serve separately as well. 

Enjoy!

Easter Sunday

Christopher and I had a fun Easter Sunday. We continued our tradition of having Easter breakfast at home with the little boys. The pups got a wet breakfast and we had our traditional smoked polish sausage with homemade hash browns. Delicious. 

The Easter bunny also came to our house. He hid Christopher's basket but he left me a scavenger hunt with lots of fun riddles. We must have been good this year ;) After finding our baskets, we went to Easter Sunday mass at St. Mark's and braved the SNOW! Go figure we would have a white Easter and not Christmas!

 We then met the Leutze clan for Easter Brunch at Rizzo's Banchetti's. The food was scrumptious but the company was even better.

We then had dinner with the Musialowski's. Dinner was absolutely fantastic. We had an Easter ham, turkey breast, cheesy potatoes, veggies, dinner rolls, etc. We were so full after both delicious meals. Jonathan was home and my mom and the Kolesnick's joined us this year too. It was an excellent day!

Balsamic Glazed Beef Rolls

Over Easter weekend, Christopher and I hosted some of his cousins for dinner. We were not sure what to serve but wanted to try something different. So we pulled up Pinterest on our tablets and searched for some new recipes. We found this one for Balsamic Glazed Beef Rolls and tried it out. Well not only are they colorful and eye catching, but delicious too. Our guests were pretty impressed with the rolls. We served them with au gratin potatoes and dinner rolls. This recipe worked out well too because I was able to prep and marinate the steaks over night and put them together in the morning. We had a busy day, so I didn't have a lot of prep time right before dinner. All turned out great. Enjoy!

Balsamic Glazed Beef Rolls
Makes 8-10 rolls

2 lb sirloin steak (you can use flank steak or skirt steak too)
Salt & Pepper
3 tbsp Worchestershire Sauce
Any steak seasoning you like (my favorite is Montreal)
1 carrot
1 bell pepper (I used 1/2 of a yellow and red pepper to add some additional color)
1/2 zucchini
6 green onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp italian seasoning
2 tbsp butter
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup beef broth

Start by prepping the steak. Since I used a larger sirloin steak, I cut the steak into longer strips and then pounded the steak to make it flatter. Trim as much of the fat off as you can. Then cut the steak into 3" strips. I managed to get 10 strips. Season the steak pieces on both sides with salt, pepper, steak seasoning and the Worcestershire sauce. Let the steak pieces marinate for at least a couple of hours.

While the steak is marinating, prep the vegetable filing. Slice the carrots, bell pepper and zucchini into matchstick size pieces, a little longer than the width of the steak strips. I hand cut all the veggies, but if you have a mandolin slicer, that would speed up the process. Then slice the green onions in half lengthwise. Peel and crush the 2 cloves of garlic. In a small frying pan, add a touch of olive oil and toss in the smashed garlic. Turn the heat up to high and toss in the carrots, bell pepper and zucchini and stir fry the veggies for about 2-3 minutes. Season them with the italian seasoning and transfer the cooked veggies to a bowl.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a small sauce pan on medium heat. Finely chop the 1 clove of garlic and saute it for a couple of minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and beef stock and stir to mix everything. Allow the sauce to come to a boil and reduce to almost half its volume. You'll notice it starts becoming thicker and should coat the back of a spoon easily. Once it hits this consistency, remove for the heat and transfer the glaze to a bowl.

To assemble the steak rolls, take a strip of he marinated steak and lay it with the short side towards you. Place the veggies and sliced green onion in the middle and roll the beef up over the filing, securing it with a toothpick. Repeat the same with the other rolls.

Heat a large skillet or grill pan (I used a grill pan to get the nice seared grill lines) over medium-high heat. Add a touch of oil swirling to coat the bottom. When hot, add the beef rolls, seam side down, not touching and cook for a couple of minutes each side. Remove from heat and also remove the toothpick. Drizzle the balsamic glaze over the top of each of the rolls and serve warm.

Friday Lenten Meal Idea

Alright so I know that Lent is official over and I am behind on updating my blog, but I thought I would still share a good meal idea for a meat-less Friday lunch/dinner. It is sometimes hard for us to think outside the fish box when it comes to Friday meals during Lent. This past Good Friday, we cooked up some Buffalo "Chicken" zucchini boats and they turned out fantastic!

Buffalo "Chicken" Zucchini Boats
Makes 2 servings (4 "boats)

2 medium zucchini's, halved lengthwise with the middles scooped out
salt & pepper
Olive Oil
Blend of mozzarella & cheddar cheeses (about 1 cup total)
2 Morningstar Buffalo Chik Patties (these are veggie patties sold in the Frozen goods section)
Extra hot sauce of choice, I used Wegman's Buffalo Hot Sauce

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. On a foil lined baking sheet, place the halves of zucchini with the scooped out section facing up. Brush each of the halves with a little bit of olive oil and season with salt & pepper to taste. Bake just the zucchini for about 30 minutes. When the zucchini is almost done, cook the Morningstar patties for about 1 minute. Dice up the patties into bite sized pieces. When the zucchini is finished cooking, sprinkle a little bit of the cheese into the scooped out middle. Then top with the cut up patties, a little more hot sauce (if you choose) and then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Place the stuffed zucchini bake into the oven for about 5-7 more minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Then enjoy! As you can see I almost did not get a picture because we ate these pretty quickly after coming out of the oven. They were delicious. I gather you could do this for "chicken" parm (using any veggie style patty), "taco" boats, etc.

Zucchini Chicken Bake

Here is the recipe of the bake I made Sunday night. It is a "healthier" take on my families favorite recipe - cheesy potatoes. I had some for lunch yesterday and it was even good re-heated.

Zucchini Chicken Bake
8 oz shredded potatoes (hash browns)
2-3 zucchini's, shredded (I used a cheese grater)
1 can of chicken, liquid drained
1 cup plain, fat free Greek yogurt
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 cup shredded cheese (I used a mixture of mozzarella & cheddar cheeses)
2 cups crushed corn flakes
4 tbsp butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400. Grease an 8x13 glass pan. In a large bowl, add the shredded (or hash brown) potatoes, shredded zucchini, canned chicken, yogurt, cream of chicken soup, onion powder and shredded cheese. Mix all of these ingredients well. Dump the zucchini and chicken mixture into the prepared 8x13 and spread evenly in the pan. Take the crushed corn flakes and add the melted butter and stir quickly so that the crushed corn flakes are evenly coated in butter. Spread the corn flake mixture evenly over the top of the zucchini bake. Bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes. Remove and cool for about 5 minutes before serving (this was piping HOT). Enjoy!

Fun Weekend

Last weekend we had the perfect combo of busy, fun and relaxing. Friday night we met Christopher's parents for a fish fry at Papa Jake's. Boy it was packed! At 5:30, we waited about 40 minutes for a table! But that was okay because we had a lot of catch up on and enjoyed some drinks at the bar. The fish fry was incredible and we could all see why there is such a long wait. And...by 7:30 they were all sold out of fish! Definitely Lent in Buffalo!

Saturday morning I worked on updating my etsy site and listing and ran errands, got my oil changed in my car and meal prepped a little for the week. Then we - all four of us - went over to my parent's house for some lunch, a visit and to show Dad how to use his new tablet! I am so proud of my Dad for trying to learn how to use it. He has never used a computer before and did a great job learning to use the tablet. The pups had a blast playing with Buddy and running around.

Saturday night we had a Netflix marathon of House of Cards - to catch up on Season 2. Yep - we are very behind - no spoilers! This week we are going to start on the newly released Season 3.

Sunday we had church, where we saw some friends and caught up with a former teacher of Christopher's - Fr Tom. I worked on some new merchandise for Ellegant Decor and Christopher is finishing up one of his refinishing projects for a friend of ours. It was a very productive weekend.

Then Sunday night, I played around with one of our families favorite and classic recipes - Cheesy Potatoes! I will have to post the recipe I used, but we swapped out the potatoes for zucchini and the sour cream for Greek yogurt and also added chicken. It came out delicious and even Christopher enjoyed it. It is also very similar to a recipe that one of my best friends Reese created too. I am loving making hearty bakes and casseroles - it has been way too cold out.

Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot

This came out of the crock pot - who knew!

This week I feel like Christopher and I are running in two different directions. We try very hard to sit down together for dinner, but sometimes that is hard because we have meetings after work. Yesterday, I was the one who had the event at 6 pm but I still wanted to squeeze in dinner together before I left.

I bought a whole roasting chicken to have this week and decided to try it in the crock pot (my NEW crock pot - so excited to use it). It came out great! I thought it would be too soft and not flavorful, but that was not the case! I highly recommend saving time and cooking it this way. I did a lemon-garlic seasoning that worked well. This is what I did:

Inside the crock pot, I made a "bed" for the chicken to lay on of a sliced onion, carrots and celery. Then I took the washed and patted dry chicken and laid it inside the crock pot. I then sliced a lemon and three garlic cloves and threw them inside the chicken. On the outside of the chicken, I seasoned with salt, pepper and my handy lemon-garlic seasoning. That is it! I set my crock pot on low for 8 hours.

When it was time to eat, I took the chicken out (carefully) and placed it in a roasting pan. Then turned my oven onto broil and broiled the chicken for about 5-7 minutes so the skin could brown and crisp up. This worked perfectly to give the chicken the roasted look.

Bonus for creating the "bed" of veggies is that it propped up the chicken and all of the juices from the chicken collected in the bottom. BONUS - now I have the broth I need to make chicken noodle soup with the cooked veggies.

We enjoyed our chicken with leftover potatoes and veggies from the previous nights meal. I was able to come home and eat dinner within 25 minutes before turning around for my event.

BONUS - I now have the base for my chicken soup!

Le Cellier Inspired Beer Cheese Soup

Yes Disney is still on my brain. My in-laws are visiting there right now and I would be lying if I did not say I was a little jealous. So in honor of their trip, our upcoming trip and Disney on the brain, I made a Le Cellier inspired Beer Cheese Soup.

1/4 lb bacon (finely chopped)
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup carrot, finely chopped
3 tbsp all purpose flour
3 cups whole milk
2 cups chicken stock
12 oz grated or shredded cheddar cheese
3 dashes of hot sauce
1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce
1/2 cup beer (dark ale preferred)
salt & pepper to taste
Chopped chives for garnish

Tip: To "chop" the bacon, I used a pair of poultry scissors and cut the bacon into small pieces. In addition, I highly recommend using a food processor with a chopping option. It saves a lot of time.

Saute the bacon in a large, heavy-bottom, non-reactive stock pot over medium heat until wilted but not browned. Add onions, celery and carrots and cook until onions are translucent and bacon has crisped. Sprinkle in flour and stir constantly for 2 minutes. Stir in milk and chicken stock, a little at a time, blending well to ensure that there are no lumps. Bring the liquid to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the cheese, hot sauce, worcestershire sauce and beer. Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with the chives if you like.

Yummy! Enjoy with some pretzel rolls or sticks :) Just like in the restaurant!

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

With Fall in full gear, I am ready for soup weather. At least soups that I like to make and are willing to eat. I recently got into soups and decided they were not too bad (I know Mom - who am I??). I googled tomato basil soup, as this is one of my favorites to get at restaurants, and found an easy and delicious sounding recipe from the Food Network's Ina Garten.

I made it and it turned out great! Even Christopher liked it and he really isn't into tomato based soups. I think he was hoping I would make a beer cheese soup, or something along those lines.

Here are the easy directions. Plus - your kitchen will smell fantastic while it is stewing :) Perfect for football Sundays.

3 lbs plum tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsps olive oil
2 tbsp salt
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 yellow onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 crushed red pepper flakes
1 28 oz can of plum tomatoes
4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed (you read that right - 4 CUPS)
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 quart (4 cups) chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.  While the tomatoes are roasted, cut and mince all other ingredients. In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme and chicken stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the juice and extra liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.

Ina Garten uses a food mill to puree the soup. I do not have a food mill, so I used our food processor and the puree option. Note - this will get really messy, but it is totally worth it! We served the soup hot and with a little sprinkle of cheddar cheese on top!

Buffalo Scallops Recipe

Who doesn't love anything Buffalo? I saw this recipe on Pinterest a while ago for Buffalo Scallops. At first, I was pretty hesitant because I wasn't sure how seafood and buffalo sauce could possibly mix. But I put my brave girl pants on and tried it for dinner the other night. And it wasn't all that bad. I honestly thought the seasonings used in the recipe for a little much and made the scallops a lot hotter than I would prefer, but with a little tinkering with the recipe, I think we will make this again. Christopher thought the same thing and wondered why I would follow the recipe if I know I can make it better - next time I guess.

I will share with you below the recipe that I used, but eventually if I make this again, I will repost the changes made.

1/2 lb bay scallops
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
1/8 cup bread crumbs (it is so crumbly in the picture because I accidentally poured more crumbs than needed - oops - definitely do not do that)
1/2 cup Buffalo sauce of choice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the spices, olive oil and bread crumbs. In a greased 8x8 Pyrex dish, layer the scallops in a single layer and sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top of the scallops. Drizzle 1/2 of the Buffalo sauce over the top of the scallops & crumb mixture. Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until the scallops are cooked through. Toss with remainder of the Buffalo sauce and serve.

I served ours with a side of green beans.

Roasted Butternut Squash Chicken Salad

Can you believe I have never had butternut squash? Actually - most of you probably can because I have never been a fan of vegetables until recently. On our anniversary, we went out to dinner to Russell Salvatore's restaurant and Christopher ordered a side of butternut squash risotto and I thought I would try it. Well...it was delicious! So this weekend when I did the grocery shopping, I had to pick one up to try something, anything with it. I mean - how often do I find a vegetable I can tolerate???

So...I found this recipe for a butternut squash salad and decided to adapt it for our families likes and ingredients that I already had on hand.

I used:
- 1/2 butternut squash
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- romaine lettuce
- shredded coconut
- 1 green apple
- honey (my Uncle Jack's honey - it is the best!)
- chia seeds
- precooked, grilled chicken (about 1 breast)
- 4 oz plain goat cheese

This made two nice sized salads for Christopher and I!

Preheat the oven to 365 degrees. Dice up the butternut squash and spread on a baking sheet into a single layer. Drizzle with a little olive oil, nutmeg & cinnamon. Roast for 20 minutes and flip and bake an additional 20 minutes. While the squash was baking, I sliced the apples thin and plated them. Once plated I added the lettuce, sprinkled the coconut and chia seeds on the salad. Since the chicken was pre-cooked, I just microwaved it to warm it up and diced it into bite sized pieces. Then tossed on the salad along with the roasted butternut squash. Then I added about 2 oz of goat cheese to each plate and lightly drizzled Uncle Jack's honey over the salad. And voila!

The salad was delicious and sweet. Even Christopher liked it! We will definitely be making this again soon :)

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

Christopher LOVES fish. I surprised him last weekend with a great dinner. Lately - not going to lie here - I have been getting really lazy with dinner. We are talking, sandwiches, Pizza, soup, pasta & sauce, etc. So...he was thrilled when I made him a "real" dinner. 

This dinner was a real winner too so I thought I would share it because it was pretty easy to make.

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

Serves 2

2 Tilapia filets

3/4 cup grated parmesan

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tbsp parsley

1 tsp garlic powder

Salt & pepper to taste

Mix all dry ingredients into bowl. Literally press the cheese mixture onto the fish to coat it. Place the coated fish on a plate, cover and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to set. This way, when we go to cook it, the "crumbs" will stick better to the fish. 

Get out your frying pan and a little coconut oil (I used 1 tbsp coconut oil but you can use your oil of choice) and let the oil melt and get hot. Cook the fish on each side for 2-4 minutes each depending on thickness of the fish. The fish should easily flake apart when finished. 

I served our fish with sauteed green beans and a garlic parmesan risotto. The beans were fantastic but the risotto sounded good but was less than stellar. Which was okay because the fish was a knock out! Christopher is already begging for me to make it again.

Just a Little Dinner on the Weekend

So in typically Ellen fashion I had a whole to-do list for this weekend of everything I wanted to accomplish. Well...it is Monday and most of it has not gotten done. Which is actually okay because I was able to do many other things. One of them being trying a new recipe!

I LOVE goat cheese. Actually I love ALL cheeses, but right now I am on a goat cheese kick. So dinner Saturday night I decided to make some grilled chicken with roasted tomatoes (this was a fail) and goat cheese. Kind of like the Chicken Bryan recipe from Carrabbas. It turned out pretty good. I served the chicken with sauteed green beans (in the lemon garlic sauce I made for the chicken) and leftover Truffle Tortellini from our dinner at Salvatores (total cheat here - but it went pretty well). Christopher LOVED it and it was fairly simple to made too.

Grilled Goat Cheese Chicken with Butter Sauce
Serve: 2

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise
salt & pepper, to taste
olive oil
2 ounces goat cheese
2 roasted tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
4 tsp onions, minced
4 tsp garlic, minced (I think I added a little more - I love garlic)
1 stick of butter
2 tbsp lemon juice

Prepare the chicken: brush chicken on both sides with olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Grill chicken until done. While chicken is cooking, prepare the butter sauce. Saute onion and garlic in 2 tbsp butter for about 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes to reduce. Add remaining butter until it melts and looks nice and creamy. Add chopped roasted tomatoes and basil and heat through. Top the grilled chicken breasts with 1/2 oz (or 1/4) of the goat cheese. Cheese may soften and melt a little. Then spoon the lemon butter sauce over the goat cheese and chicken breasts.

Roasted Tomatoes - I sliced up the tomatoes earlier in the day and roasted them in olive oil and minced garlic. Well...I forgot about them and they burned quite a bit. Not having the canned stuff I decided to use them anyway and they were not totally bad, but their taste was a little more potent.

Sausage-Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Still on my quest to increase my intake of vegetables, I keep trying to find ways to cook zucchini. It is in season right now and I feel like my neighbors and friends are trying to get rid of their gardens like they are bad pennies. Which has made experimenting with them easy and fun.

A couple of days ago I wanted to make my own variation of sausage stuffed zucchini boats. After seeing many recipes on Pinterest and hearing one of my co-worker's take on it, I decided to try them myself.

I made ours with poultry sausage - a mixture of chicken and turkey, which have a mild flavor to them. I mixed in some leftover pasta sauce, parmesan cheese, and basil. Then I added a layer of mozzarella to bake them to perfection.

Sausage-Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Makes 2 servings

2 medium-large zucchini's
Salt & pepper
Garlic powder
Olive OIl
1 lb Sausage (I used a poultry sausage)
1 tsp basil
1/2 cup pasta sauce
1 tbsp parmesan cheese
2 cheese sticks
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the ends off the zucchini's and then cut them lengthwise. Using a spoon or melon-baller, remove the seeds and "guts" from the zucchini and set aside. Leave about enough so that there is about 1/4" shell. Put zucchini in a glass Pyrex baking dish (mine fit a 9x9). Baste the zucchini halves with a little olive oil and salt, pepper & garlic powder them to taste. Roast the zucchini's for about 20-25 minutes until they are soft. While the zucchini's are roasting, brown and cook the sausage. Drain any excess grease. Once the sausage is browned, mix in the pasta sauce, basil and parmesan cheese in the pan with the sausage until mixed through. Next, cut the mozzarella cheese sticks (or whatever kind you like) in half lengthwise. Once the zucchini's are done roasting, place a 1/2 a mozzarella cheese stick in each boat. Then fill in the boats with the sausage mixture. Top the zucchini boats with a thin layer of mozzarella cheese and bake in the oven for about 10 more minutes or until the cheese is melted. Then enjoy hot :)

I paired our dinner with roasted carrots and some herb couscous. It was colorful and delicious!

Wedge Salad

This is a super easy recipe and my husband LOVED it, which says alot because he is not a salad type person.

Wedge Salad

1 Romaine heart, cut in half, lengthwise
2 tbsp your favorite blue cheese dressing (I picked out Marie's Bacon infused blue cheese because who doesn't love extra bacon!)
2 strips, cooked, Turkey bacon
Handful cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp French's Fried Onions

Place 1 half of the romaine lettuce on each plate (this recipe is for two salads). Top the flat, cut side of the lettuce with 1 tbsp of the dressing each. Then top of the dressed salad with the remainder of the toppings and enjoy.

You can't get much easier than that!

Zucchini-Feta Fritters

Zucchini-Feta Fritters

1 medium zucchini
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 egg
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
salt & pepper
Some butter or olive oil (for frying)

Shred the zucchini using a cheese grater. I highly recommend using the large hole and not the smaller ones or you will pulverize the vegetable. Squeeze as much water out of the zucchini as possible. To do this either: 1) sprinkle the shredded zucchini with a little salt and let it drain into a bowl (using a fine colander) for abou 1 hour pressing down every 15 minutes to help remove the water or 2) sprinkle salt on the shredded zucchini and wring out the zucchini in a dish towel - this is definitely the quickest.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the zucchini, onion powder, parsley, egg, flour and feta together. Season with salt and pepper to your liking and refrigerate for about 15-20 minutes to firm up the mix. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with a little olive oil or butter. Drop the zucchini mix in small scoopfuls into the skillet. Press down on the top of the fritters so that they form patties (won't be perfect circles - but pretty close). Cook on each side under golden brown (maybe 4 minutes each side). It is best to work in batches. I fit about 4 on my skillet at a time. Serve warm with either a tzatziki or ranch sauce.

Surprise Romantic Dinner for Christopher

So this weekend was rare in that I did not have any formal plans - YEAH! But don't think I sat on my butt doing nothing either. On Saturday I started to deep clean several rooms in the house in preparation for Fall. I also ran errands and got to visit with my friend Carly and our Godson Wyatt. What a cutie pie! I loved his big belly laughs - they are just so precious.

Then on Sunday I continued my cleaning marathon and errand running. But I was really in the mood to cook...sooooo I decided to cook a 5 course romantic dinner for Christopher. He has been really busy lately working hard to find a job, volunteer, network, etc. I surprised him when he came home! I styled our dining room table with linens, centerpiece and placing settings. For the courses, I made the following:

1) Zucchini Feta Fritters with cool ranch sauce

2) Wedge Salad with turkey bacon, tomatoes and onions and a bacon infused creamy blue cheese dressing

3) Chicken and Herb Dumpling Soup

4) Roasted Garlic Chicken with steamed broccoli and roasted garlic potatoes

5) Oreo Marshmellow Bars

I will post recipes in a bit! For now, here are the pictures of the table and place settings.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

For lunch today, I decided I would try a Cauliflower crust pizza. I have been sceptical since reading about them in magazines and seeing the recipes on Pinterest. I don't know about you, but I do not like cauliflower but I am trying hard to like it. Back to the whole vegetable bit - trying to like them. I decided to take a chance on one of the recipes I found on FitSugar (http://www.fitsugar.com/Low-Carb-Cauliflower-Crust-Pizza-Recipe-30739512).

Verdict: it was delicious! But then, I guess adding cheese to anything for me makes a meal taste good. This is also a good low-carb option too. I will be keeping this around for a while. Although Christopher was not brave enough to try. Luckily, my friend Ashley is a guinea pig for my meals and she loved it too! Two thumbs up.

Prepared & Baked Crust

Cauliflower Pizza Crust - makes 2 servings (one pizza)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups grated cauliflower (about 1 small head) (I used a cheese grater to grate the cauliflower - this was super easy)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup pizza or tomato sauce
Any other toppings you like

Directions:

Line a pizza pan with parchment paper and pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Grate the cauliflower using a cheese grater over a large, microwave safe bowl until you have about two cups of cauliflower crumbles. Microwave the crumbles for 6-8 minutes or until soft. Let cool.

Mix in the egg, one cup of mozzarella, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and garlic powder to the bowl of cauliflower. Once combined, pat the mixture into the prepared pizza pan (try your best to make it as round as possible). Spray the top lightly with a nonstick spray and bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Top the pizza with the sauce, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese and any other topping you would like. Bake in the oven until the cheese has melted, about another 10 minutes. Cut and enjoy!

Finished Product!

Chicken = winner; Vegetables = FAIL

So as you all know I am on a quest to enjoy and eat more vegetables. I was reading one of my favorite blogs (http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/) and came acrossed a chessy chicken and grilled vegetables dinner. I thought - why not! I did not have all of the ingredients that the recipe called for, so I improvised as I went along.

The chicken turned out great. But the vegetables not so much. I decided to grill some broccoli florets and sliced yellow squash, but they turned out really soft and soggy. I made a little foil packet to grill them in. I think that was the issue - next time, I would try grilling them on a grill plate. Luckily enough, I also had Christopher prepared corn on the cob for the grill, so our need for a side was saved!

Vegetable - FAIL

Teriyaki Grilled Cheesy Stuffed Chicken - makes 2
(original recipe posted here: http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/post/29056586230)

Ingredients:
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 4 TBSP Fat Free Cream Cheese
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 4 TBSP Teriyaki Marinade
- 1/2 cup bell peppers (red & orange)

Directions:
Heat grill to 500 degrees. In a small mixing bowl, combine 1 tbsp Teriyaki marinade, garlic powder and cream cheese. Make a slit in the middle of the chicken breast. I cut mine almost in half lengthwise, but kept a seem to keep the chicken together. Stuff each breast with 2 tbsp of the cream cheese mixture. Prepare tin foil with nonstick cooking spray. I used two sheets of tin foil to make sure the packet would be strong enough. Lay the chicken on top of the prepared tin foil. Top each chicken breast with remaining Teriyaki marinade and cut bell peppers. Place tin foil onto grill and cook chicken about 9 minutes on each side.

Cooked Chicken - Yummy!