Provencal Salmon Burgers

I spent a fair amount of time in potty training land today.  Its a wonderful place that doesn't require pants!  It does, however, require crazy accessories!

Her "looks" today were serious cracking me up.  But, any outfit sans pants is probably gonna be pretty funny.  Wish I could show the full ensemble but clearly I cannot.  Trust me tho - the pics are definitely gonna get some face time in oh...lets say 15 years when I'm needing some sort of payback.  Longer if her Dad has something to say about it. ; )

This evening's meal was fab-u-lous!  This is the Provencal Salmon Burger from March 2011 Clean Eating Magazine.  Seriously good eats and I didn't even make the sauce that was supposed to go on it!  (which looks fab too, but I didn't have a cucumber)

Here is the recipe:

Provencal Salmon Burgers

- 3 cups cauliflower and broccoli, each

- 1 tsp lemon zest

- 1 lb salmon fillets, cut into chunks

- 1 egg white

- 3/4 tsp herbes de Provence

- 5 kalamata olives, chopped

- 1 tsp capers

- 1 tbsp chopped red onion

- 2 tsp Dijon mustard

- olive oil cooking spray

-4 whole wheat buns

- Green leaf lettuce

Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

- 1/2 cucumber, peeled and seeded

- 1 cup nonfat plain Greek-Style yogurt

- 1 crushed clove garlic

- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions: In a medium saucepot, bring 4 cups water to a boil. Add cauliflower and broccoli.  Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until tender but firm.  Remove veggies from pot and toss with lemon zest; set aside.

In a food processor, combine salmon, egg white, herbes de Provence, olives, capers, onion and Dijon.  Pulse 3 or 4 times until mixed but still chunky.  Form into 4 patties and set aside.

Prepare cucumber yogurt sauce: grate cucumber over a cheesecloth or clean towel.  Wrap up cheese cloth or towel and squeeze tightly until all liquid is removed from cucumber.  In a medium bowl, combine cucumber, yogurt, garlic and lemon juice; mix well.

Heat a saucepan on medium-high and mist with cooking spray.  Place salmon patties in pan, mist tops with cooking spray and cook for 4 to 5 minutes per side.

To assemble burgers, place each salmon patty in 1 bun and top with 1/4 cup cucumber yogurt sauce.  Add lettuce to burger, if desired.  Serve with 1 cup broccoli-cauliflower mixture.

Serves: 4, Serving size: 1 salmon burger and 1 cup veggie mixture, calories: 372

 

 

In other news...OUR.SEPTIC.IS.WORKING.  We got ripped off!!!!!  Eric went out today to check on it (and I prepared for the worst with a big glass of wine and a few deep breaths) and came in and announced that it IS, in fact, working.  So we tested it out with a load of laundry and he could tell it wasn't frozen.  And he thinks it never actually was!  So, now comes the part where I call out Lon's Septic Service in Hillman, MN. DON'T USE THEM!!!  They ripped off our neighbor too I guess!  LIARS!  They came here twice and were probably laughing' it up each time they left. We'll spread the word tho, Lon!  So look out!

 

Thats all for now!  G'night!

SnotRod Soup

Good morning!  The house is quiet and its "mama time" so I thought I'd let you peek at some of yesterday's happenings.  The kids and I went for a walk to the bridge because the ducks are all starting to return.  There is open water there so thats where they all hang out.  So we went to take a gander.

The big white ones standing on the ice are the Trumpeter Swans.  If I had a savvy well marked blog, I'd link you back to the pictures I took of the Trumpeters two years ago.  Actually, I think Eric may have taken the one that turned out great.  ???  I can't remember.  Anyway, they needed to come closer.  Could barely see them. : (

Avos was mad about that too.  She wanted to GET THOSE BIRDS!

Can you tell they are posing for me?  LOL!  I said, stand together and look at the ducks.  They did just that.  And it only lasted a few seconds and then Dylan turned around and said, "done?"  Uggg.  I guess. ; )

Avery took his hat and then he pushed her down trying to get it back.  That was the end of out time outside.  She was angry!

Today's soup de jour - SnotRod Soup.  Yeah, so I made up that name to please Dylan.  I've made this soup quite a few times and its always a hit with the kids.  Avery laps it up pretty quickly!  Well, not so much yesterday.  She was being "difficult" yesterday.  Finally I just gave up and took her out of her highchair.  Then Eric came down from his office and wouldn't ya know it - the little turd ate it just fine for him!  She requested seconds even.  Lame, Avos, LAME!  Especially since this really is one of her favorites.  And for good reason.  Its pretty fabulous.

SnotRod Soup

Adapted from Williams Sonoma catalog! (LOL)

1TB olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

4 cups butternut squash puree (I used 2 15 ounce cans, but if you cant find that - you'll have to roast your own and puree it yourself)

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable if you want this to be a veg meal)

2 small bay leaves

3 tsp salt, plus more to taste

1/4 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp grated fresh ginger (tip: I keep my ginger in the freezer so I always have some on hand)

In saute pan over medium heat, add olive oil and onion.  Cook until soft.  Transfer onion to slow cooker.  Add butternut squash puree, apple, stock, bay leaves, 3 tsp salt, coriander and ginger to slow cooker.  Stir to combine.  Cover and cook for 2 hours.  I did mine on high for 1 hour and then low for the rest of the time.  You can leave it all in there for longer than 2 hours if you want.  Just don't have the temp on too high or it might burn.

Discard bay leaves.  Using a stick blender (or if you have to, a blender or food processor) puree the soup until smooth.  I like to serve this with crusty bread or sandwiches.  Enjoy!

 

The white stuff you see there is a dollop of greek yogurt.  It didn't add anything, so next time I'd omit it.  We've put sour cream in it before and that was good though!  : )

Well, since it's Fitness Friday - I will have another post for you shortly.  Now....if only I could figure out how to imbed a video here....hmmm.  Stay tuned!

 

Orange Chipotle Chicken

  Oh, we SEE you’re back for more????? Yes!  We’re so excited!

Wait – you’re not just here to see us?  You want food too?  Boooooo.   Well, food there will be today.  Get ready to become hungry.    I’ve blogged about these cookies before (maybe even twice before, I think??) but they are just so dang good that I can’t stop thinking about them.  In fact, right now as I’m writing this – I am doing everything in my power NOT to go grab one.  I’ve had 3 today and that’s probably enough!  These are the Carrot Oatmeal Cookies from 101 cookbooks, you’ll recall.  

OH man – I could just EAT this picture.  Hey – and can you tell that I am trying to make the best of the daylight for pictures lately!  Yay! Can’t wait for summer food pics though.  I’ve had enough winter darkness.

Speaking of winter – kids went for a ride on the snowmobile today with Eric.  Its not my most favorite activity for them (its stinky and somewhat dangerous) but it definitely helps to have them out of my hair when I’m working on pulling off an awesome meal for them when they come in.

Today’s special: Orange Chipotle Chicken from Clean Eating’s February 2011 issue.

INGREDIENTS:
-1 tsp chile powder
-1/2 tsp ground cumin
-1/2 tsp sea salt, divided
-1 tsp safflower oil  (you could probably use olive oil if you wanted to)
-4 boneless skinless chicken breast, about 1 lb. rinsed, patted dry, pounded to 1/2-inch thick
-Juice 1 medium navel orange (1/3 cup orange juice)
-2 tbsp pure maple syrup
-1 tbsp chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
-1 tsp orange zest
-2 cups cooked brown rice
-1/4 packed cup chopped cilantro leaves (I omitted this b/c Eric is NOT a cilantro fan.  I know, weird.)

INSTRUCTIONS:
One: In a small bowl, combine chile powder, cumin, and 1/4 tsp salt. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet on medium-high. Tilt skillet to coat bottom lightly. Season both sides of chicken with chile-cumin mixture and cook for 3 minutes per side or until no longer pink in center. Remove from skillet and set aside.
Two: Add orange juice and maple syrup to juice and bits left in skillet and cook for 1 minute to thicken slightly (until it measures 1/4 cup liquid) stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in chipotle chiles in adobo sauce and orange zest. Add chicken back to skillet, return to heat and cook for 1 minutes on medium high turning constantly.
Three: In a medium bowl, combine rice, cilantro and remaining 1/4 tsp salt. Serve chicken over rice and spoon any excess glaze over top of chicken pieces.
Calories: 283, Fat: 4g, Carbs: 32g, Fiber 2g

The arsenal of ingredients…

  Chipotle chili pepper and orange zest hanging out with the freshly squeezed OJ!

Chicken!

I chopped up the chicken and tossed it in the sauce that way.  The recipe calls for you to leave the breasts as they are and toss them that way.  I think chopping them up helped each piece to soak up the delicious juice.  

Finished product!  This was really, really good.  I urge you to make it.  Now.   As you can see, I added broccoli.  Children need vegetables, you know.

We decided to top it off with a delicious, healthy dessert.  If you have never made Banana Soft Serve, well, I urge you to make this as well.  Again, this is something I have blogged about before, but again – it deserves another mention.  All you do is take 2 frozen bananas and put them in your food processor.  Let it run for 5 minutes or so (scrape down the edges every so often) and voila – you will have ice cream.  That’s it.   So here are the frozen nanners.  I recently bought 3 pounds of ripe bananas for 99 cents (SCORE!) so I have a bunch of bananas in the freezer just WAITNG to be used for this.  I chopped them up straight from the freezer and it wasn’t a problem.

  My assistant.

This is after a few minutes.  The brown blob you see there is Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter.  It gives the soft serve a little somethin’ extra.  Taaaaasty.

Finished product.  Seriously delicious.  And good for you!  All it is is bananas!  (Well, and dark chocolate PB too – but it tastes just as yummy without, I swear!)

See – he agrees!  Good stuff!

Well, that’s it for now.  There is hockey to watch! 

Chile Verde

Good morning!  Check out what we had for din din last night.  Chile Verde.  It was pretty darn good, I must say.  This is from the Williams-Sonoma Slow Cooker: Food Made Fast cookbook that my mom gave me for Christmas.  It was pretty easy to make.  Only bad part is cutting up the meat.  I HATE cutting up meat.  But oh well.  This time, it was worth it (nothing worse than cutting up a bunch of meat and having it turn out just so-so).  Here’s the recipe (and I’m typing this out out of the goodness of my heart, so you better be trying it, peeps!):

Chile Verde

William Sonoma Slow Cooker : Food Made Fast

8 oz canned roasted whole green chiles
3 lb boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cups chicken broth (make sure you do low sodium – I think it would be much too salty if you did regular chicken broth)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
Steamed white rice (brown rice is better for you, Williams Sonoma! Clearly, we did brown rice.)
Sour cream

Cilantro
Whatever else you want to put on top – avocado, tomato, etc.

1. Put the chiles and their liquid in the slow cooker, tearing the chiles into coarse strips with your fingers (I just did chopped green chiles – much easier!).  Stir in the pork, chicken broth, garlic, oregano, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp white pepper.  Cover and cook on the high heat setting for 4 hours OR on the low heat setting for 8 hours (we did the low setting for 8 hours – meat was fabulously tender!). 

2. Ladle the stew over steamed rice and serve.  Top with sour cream, cilantro, etc. 
That’s all for now!  I need some pics of the kids today.  Avery FINALLY is letting me pull the hair out of her eyes and into a ponytail so I should probably document it.  I’ve just been so consumed with figuring out what will be my Shuttercal pic of the day.  I’ve forgotten how hard it is!  At least doing this project will remind me that I still have to finish my 2009 book documenting my 2009 Shuttercal project.  I better get on that!  Maybe I’ll do it tonight!  Yes!  Way to set goals, Trishy!

Later!

Happy New Year!

Hey!  It’s the new year! And I’m only getting around to posting a new post

on the 3rd!  I hope this is not an indication of things to come!   I honestly had nothing to tell you the last few days.  We were in Fargo until yesterday afternoon and then I was dead tired last night.  And like I said – nothing to say!

So it’s good to be home!  And what is even better is knowing that we are going to be home for a nice long stretch!  Ahhhhhh.  I’m a homebody, so I enjoy big blocks of home time.  While I love December and the holidays and family gatherings – I love nothing more than just being at home with my people.  And sleeping in my own bed.  Ahhhh, my bed.  We slept until 7:45am this morning!   This is UNHEARD of.  I don’t KNOW the last time I slept in that late.  I wasn’t up at my normal 5 am workout time because I planned on just working out at the gym today instead.  So the kids were the alarm clock and that alarm didn’t go off until then!  Crazy!  But needed, I guess.  I think we were all pretty tired.  It was a school day today though, so we had to scramble to get out the door in time.  Eric didn’t work today, so that helped.  Then when we got back from town, I started taking down Christmas.    I already miss the decor!  And I think the kids do too.  Especially Avery who is still calling out for “Tanta” on a regular basis.  While I did that though, I had bread baking in the bread machine!  Woot woot!  Today’s selection was "Burrito Bread” from the Better Homes and Garden Bread Machine book that Lingy lent me before they left for Mexico (Hi Lingy!  How’s the weather?!).  It smelled freaking awesome in here!  It called for cheese, onion, and refried beans to be put into the dough…which is what made me want to make it.  Can’t go wrong with those three ingredients.  Also made the super awesome Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup to pair it with so between the two – it smelled pretty spectacular in here today. 
   Buuuurrrrrritttoooo bread!  It didn’t have as much flavor as I’d hoped it would.  Still good though.  And tasted awesome dipped in the soup.  Clearly.   Before I hit the couch for a little Bachelor viewing (don’t pretend like you aren’t watching it) – please remember to check out my Shuttercal page.  I don’t know…might need some serious support to keep this thing going this time.  365 days of food?!  Can I really do this?!

Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup

  Christmas decorating is complete!  Tree went up last night and the kids and I decorated it today.  Always a process.  I think I lose on average, 2 strands per year.  Plug them in – nada.  SO annoying.  Good thing I’m super smart and snag up lights on clearance after Christmas!

It was Avery’s first year being on the decorating team.  She could have done better.   

There was a lot of taking things DOWN instead of putting things UP.  I think it will be a few more years before I have a tree that isn’t naked from the middle down. 

Ummmm, not quite what you are supposed to do, Avos.

Yes, I am aware that the tree is leaning.  And it is STILL leaning as I type this.  We’ve tried.  OH believe me, we’ve TRIED.  Darn thing just likes to lean.  

Dylan is in a contest with himself to see just how funny he can look in pictures.

After each picture, he has to run over and see how he looks.  Now he actually says, “Zoom in on me!  I can’t see my face that good.”  We’ll work on his grammar later.  He can keep the vanity.  He gets that from me.  

Time for the star!

Eric has been trying to provide me with an optical illusion to make me think that the tree is in fact NOT leaning.  I’m not buying it.  Just because the star is straight, doesn’t mean the tree is.  Humph.  

This evening’s meal was thrown together haphazardly (love that word).  I haven’t gone to the store yet this week, so I had to kinda throw things together and call it good.  This time it was REAL good.  I give you…Black Bean and Pumpkin Soup!  

So here is what I did:

3-4 garlic cloves, minced
(would have done an onion, but we were out – I know – GASP!)

 

Sautéed the garlic in a bit of olive oil.

Then I added the following:

1 15 ounce can black beans (rinsed)

1 15 ounce can refried black beans with chilies (probably would have just done a can of regular black beans, but again – we were out, so refried had to do)

1 15 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 15 ounce can pureed pumpkin
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup chipotle salsa (I used Trader Joe’s brand)
And lots of CUMIN. 
Simmered it all for a half hour or so.  SO good. OH baby.  Can’t wait for lunch tomorrow!  YUM.  I pureed it a bit in the end so it was more appealing to children and adults with special eating needs (Eric).  But you could leave it chunky if you want.   Ok, time for Chuck!