Quick & Healthy Snack

I'm running all around today and don't have too much time for in-depth post, but I wanted to make sure to get this awesome snack up here. A pseudo-rice krispie bar, but a bit more grown-up - I like to make these when I really want a quick dessert or snack, but don't want all the calories that come with a cookie or brownie.

They are called Peanut Butter-Crispy Rice Bars and are from Cooking Light. Since I have not changed the recipe all that much, I'll just go ahead and post the link to the recipe here. In fact, the only change I make is in the ingredient list - no rice krispies here! Not that there is anything wrong with them really (besides the fact that they get soggy so fast!), but I prefer to swap out the 6 cups of name-brand cereal for a mixture of generic puffed rice and puffed wheat cereals (3 cups each).

Give these a try sometime and let me know how you change them up - I'm always looking for a new spin on things I make all the time. And, if you love rice krispies, please go ahead and use them. I'm not the biggest fan, but I'm sure they work great too.

By the way, I also made the best banana bread this weekend for my mom. Are these mini-loaves not the cutest things?! Maybe I'm the last one to know this, but I hardly ever make banana bread because I never have bananas that are ripe enough to use when I want to make the bread. Well, a few weeks ago, I had bananas that were seriously on their way out - so I put them in the freezer. I defrosted them before making the bread and they worked great! Who knew? They seem a bit gross when you defrost them, because they are bit slimier then usual, but the flavor and texture were just fine.

Well, I hate to blog and run, but everyone has those kind of days, right?

A New Attitude...

So, our house is making a small overhaul in terms of our weekly mealplan. Currently we eat a variety of mostly heart-healthy fats (olive oil, peanut butter, etc), vegetables, fruits, whole grains (I've been slowly making the switch from white to wheat), and primarily lean proteins such as chicken, ground turkey or pork and legumes. We don't eat any offal (although I do enjoy Chris Cosentino's informative and funny blog) or a lot of red meat - maybe some form of beef (london broil, stew, steak) about once every two weeks (for home meals, a bit more if we are eating out a lot) and we eat virtually no ground beef.

In the last few months, I have been trying to make more vegetarian meals for two reasons: 1) I have issues with the handling & slaughtering of farm animals. Have you seen this video on cheap meat (warning - its not pretty)? and 2) I feel that diet full of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, along with a mix of non-animal protein and some lean animal protein is much healthier than a diet high in red meat (for us :), not trying to tell others what is good/bad for their family).

I'm definitely not against eating meat - as I said - we eat meat (including fish), but I feel like cutting down and purchasing high-quality meat (check out this information about humane standards) is really the way to go for us. Better for us, better for the animals, better for the environment.

Anyway...the point of all this (finally, right?) is - we have decided to make it official and have at least one vegetarian night per week (usually more like 2 per week) and one fish night. So, say hello to Sunday Fish Nights (check out these guidelines from Seafood Watch about sustainable fisheries) and Monday Vegetarian Nights! We are excited - I think dedicating a specific day/night to this will make it fun to find and try new recipes and we will be more likely to actually stick to it. Of course, its not like we can't trade off for a Tuesday or Thursday and the sky will fall down on us or anything :)

I'll try to blog as many of these nights as I can so be on the look-out for new, healthy ideas! Feel free to pass along any good recipes!

Sesame Noodles!

I'm a big fan of Asian flavors - I especially love Thai and Japanese cooking (lucky us being close to NYC, we have a ton of great restaurants to choose from!), and I find it challenging to try to make different dishes and styles of cooking at home. When I was living in Brooklyn, it was a bit easier to get all the ingredients that I needed, but the New Year has inspired me to get back into ethnic cooking.

I have made several sesame/peanut noodle recipes in the past - including this one (which is good, but not great) but this recipe from Tyler Florence just blew them away. It is the perfect mix of an easy and delicious weeknight meal, has great flavor and it makes for great leftovers too (perfect for lunches!).

It is labeled as sesame noodles but really it is more like a cross between a sesame and peanut noodle dish. And it is on the Asian-fusion side, rather than being really traditional-style dish. I served it as a side dish with a hoisin-glazed roast pork tenderloin and cucumber salad and the meal just hit the spot!

Cold Sesame Noodles (adapted from Tyler Florence)

Ingredients
1 pound Chinese egg noodles or spaghetti
1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
1 handful of julienned carrots
Kosher salt
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed 2 tablespoons
light brown sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I didn't have the Sriracha handy, but this works just fine - put as much or as little as you like)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
6 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

Steps
1. Cook the noodles in large pot of boiling salted water over medium heat until barely tender and still firm. Add the carrots and red pepper to the pot of noodles for the last few minutes of cooking (just to soften them a bit). Drain immediately and rinse noodles/vegetables with cold water until cool. Drain the noodles well and transfer to a wide bowl.

2. In a blender or food processor, process all remaining ingredients (except garnish) until smooth. Put mixture into the refrigerator and let it chill for about 1/2 hour. Pour the peanut sauce over the noodles and toss until well coated. Serve garnished with the sesame seeds and cilantro. You can also add some scallions to the top if you like.

Weekly Menu: 9/30 - 10/6

Well, my menu last week never got done. I'm determined to get it done this week [I'm behind already!]...so here we go.

The order of these may change, but look out for blog updates this week!

Sunday: [leftover-use things from the refrigerator night] Chicken cutlets cooked in white wine and lemon; Broccoli and whole wheat pasta with a light garlic and olive oil sauce.
Monday: Stuffed peppers (veggie/couscous/chicken sausage); Roasted cauliflower
Tuesday: [Vegetarian night] Caprese quesadillas; Salad
Wednesday: Center cut pork chops; side dish: ?
Thursday: Lasagna roll-ups; Salad
Friday: Corn and white bean soup
Saturday: To be decided; maybe go out.

Love this picture of my husband and some of the kids (cousins) at the apple-picking farm

Weekly Menu - Slacker

I slacked on my weekly menu for last week, but I will attempt to get back into it this week...tomorrow :)

Happy Fall!

Weekly Menu 9/10-9/14

I realized that I don't include the weekends in my weekly menus....I should probably start doing that, but for this week, only M-F will be included. I think most people have the hardest time getting a weekly menu together for M-F (me, especially) due to all the millions of weekday obligations.

Last week I did ok - I did not deviate from my menu, but I didn't make everything on the list either. Thursday I forgot that I had a hair appt so I was not home to cook - we ate leftovers (which is still within the realm of my "trying to use whats in my fridge" trial) and Friday we ended up going out to eat because I got hired to shoot a local sports event and was not home to cook.

So, on to this week (its already Tuesday - oops!)

Monday: Potato-crusted chicken with orzo and sauteed broccolini (sounds complicated but I just made it up with ingredients from the fridge)
Tuesday: Chili!
Wednesday: Hopefully, quesadillas with the leftover chili, but maybe I can come up with something more creative
Thursday: Chicken-spinach roulades (supposed to make last week!) and baked/roasted cauliflower (maybe)
Friday: ?? Still up in the air as ideas are coming to me in limited supply today....I'll have to update later.

And...I just have to add this cute picture of one of my nieces from this past weekend!

Weekly Menu: 9/3 - 9/7

Ok, I'm a blogging machine today :) Must have been all that long-weekend sleep.

Anyway, I'm going to try to start posting (and sticking to) a Weekly Menu. Its my attempt to try not to waste any ingredients already in my fridge and take advantage of local sales, coupons, etc - sort of similar to Robin Miller's Food Network show but not as excessive (I have no idea how she makes 3 meals out of 2 pieces of chicken!). Here is my current menu - I'll post at the end of the week to see how I did.

Monday - Asian-spiced BBQ ribs, salad with lemon-dijon vinaigrette
Tuesday - BBQ Chicken pizza (using leftover homemade BBQ sauce)
Wednesday lunch - if enough leftover, potentially make BBQ Chicken quesadillas for lunch
Wednesday - Mini-meatball soup (already chopped celery/carrots; leftovers good for lunch)
Thursday - Chicken-spinach roulades, some type of orzo/rice, roasted cauliflower
Friday - Chicken, pesto, & peas (pasta dish; made fresh pesto over the weekend) or Italian quesadillas

This is sounding ambitious...