Cookin' Fresh; Turkey and Tortellini Soup

So, I've been gone a while. I started a new Corporate America job last month and it has made me a really bad blogger. It's actually made me a really lazy cook, because this new job also comes with a 148 mile round trip daily commute... but that is neither here nor there.

Sunday. It's gonna be my back-to-cookin' day. The day with no excuses for pizza or Chinese take-out. The day to bring it all to the table and show my family what I'm made of (to be a bit dramatic).

Today, South-Central Texas saw something VERY unusual falling from the sky. Instead of smoldering ash, it was rain! Now, don't get too excited. Fifteen minutes of rain did nothing to quench the monstrous drought we're experiencing, but it did a lot to rekindle my spirits. It made me long for freshness and newness, which is why I turned to this recipe (which, I found through Pintrest, linking me to The High Heeled Hostess). Just take a look at all of the freshness you can fit in one bowl!

I varied a bit from The High Heeled Hostess' instructions to accommodate for what I had and didn't have in my pantry and fridge.

I mixed 1 pound ground turkey with 1 tablespoon paprika, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt,  about 8 turns of the grinder black pepper, and two chopped new bulb onions (plus some green onion). I crumbled the seasoned turkey mixture and browned it very well in a pan. Meanwhile, I brought to boil 36 ounces chicken stock plus two cups water. I added two peeled and chopped carrots, a can of drained corn, two cans of diced tomatoes (don't train 'em), and a couple of scoops of fresh minced garlic. I shook three hearty shakes of Cajun seasoning on top of the soupy mixture for spicy measure. When the turkey was finished browning, I added it into the boiling soup, then dropped in five handfuls cheese tortellini. I let it boil for five minutes, reduced the heat, and let it simmer for another 10 minutes until the carrots were tender. 

I sliced up some fresh bread and served this sweet and spicy little soup with a dry red wine. Really, I haven't done anything this good in a long, long time. I hope you'll try it and enjoy!

[[Cream Cheese Brownies]] Friends make the BEST food.

I'm going to go out on a metaphorical limb here and say that I've got more than one best friend. I know, this statement is heaping full of oxymoron; "more than one" and "best friend?" Together? Yep.

I have best friends from all of the different parts of my life, from elementary to college and every step and place in between. Erin...  she's my best friend from high school (and quite possibly my hands-down favorite person, ever) and she's a fellow foodie. The best kinds of friends are the foodie kind, I believe.

When we were in high school, Erin and I developed one of those beautiful girls-night-in traditions with a few other close girlfriends, all of which contained three key ingredients: pajamas, movies and THESE brownies.

The brownies came to life after Erin and I saw a box-mix for them in our local HEB and thought that we could do better. Over the years, the brownies have taken different forms; we usually used a box brownie mix and added the cream cheese. Here, I use my Gramma's scratch brownie mix and the same idea that Erin and I developed in her parents' kitchen many years ago.


CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES:

What you'll need:

2 1/2c. white sugar, divided
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. baking cocoa (unsweetened)
1 tsp. salt
1 c. veggie oil
6 eggs, divided
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. full-fat cream cheese

What you'll do:

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of sugar, flour, baking cooca, salt, veggie oil, 5 eggs and vanilla. Using a large fork (not a mixer), mix by hand until well blended. Pour mixture into a greased glass pan (I use 9 x 13).

In a medium mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1 egg and softened cream cheese. Beat until fluffy (and yes, you can use a mixer for this part).

Using a tablespoon, drop cream cheese mixture into brownie batter. Swirl the cream cheese into the batter or leave it on top, whichever you prefer.

Bake for 30 - 35 minutes at 350 degrees. Let brownies cool completely and cut into bars to serve to your best foodie friends!

Mongolian Stir Fry FTW.

I know, I know. "FTW" was cool for about 34 seconds three years ago. But, gosh. I can't think of another way to abbreviate the way I feel about the increasing popularity of Mongolian stir fry restaurants (and frozen yogurt chains, but that's another blog). Mongolian stir fry is a win-win situation; there is something for everyone and it can be as healthy (or as diet-disastrous) as you choose.

If you've not been lucky enough to visit one of the many Mongolian stir fry restaurants which seem to be popping up all over the map, like Genghis Grill or Kublai Khan, here's a run down of dining events:

You arrive. You're seated. Your server takes your drink and/or appetizer orders. (What? This sounds just like any other dine-in experience, you say? Just wait. I'm about to blow your mind.)

You get an empty bowl. Bon appitite! ...Okay, or not. For to every empty bowl in the land of Mongolian stir fry is an endless buffet of raw food... chicken, beef, pork, seafood of all sorts and stinky kinds (nope; I don't like it), sausages; the possibilities are endless. There are seasonings for your meats, from the spicy to the sweet and the tart and tangy. Then there are the veggies. Miles and miles (or a few feet) of veggies. Broccoli, carrots, squash... onions, bean sprouts, spinach... I could fill up a whole blog listing veggies from the buffet. The point of these endless meats and veggies is to fill that empty bowl that the smiling server just gave you.

This is why Mongolian food is all about you. You decide what goes in the bowl. You decide if you want to go carnivorous, like David usually does, or if you want to keep it vegetarian, like my sister, or if you like a nice, dainty mix of protein and fiber, like I (generally) do.

At the end of the raw food buffet, you'll find caldrons of sauces and syrups waiting to be taste tested. I  highly recommend tasting them all; sometimes those names are deceiving! When you've settled on a sauce, simply spoon it into a sauce bowl (as provided) and voila! You're half way to a customized meal with zero cooking effort on your part and where the dishes are complimentary and taken care of.

At this point, you've got a whopping bowl full of raw stuff. Dig in? Not quite. There is someone just dying to cook it all up for you just a few feet away. Leave it with the chef-- he'll ask you what kind of starch you want (white rice, brown rice, fried rice, noodles...) --and he'll do the rest!

Give it 10 or 15 minutes. Like Santa on Christmas, your server will appear with your steaming-hot, cooked-to-order bowl of whatever goodness you selected. Ohhhhhhhh, it's good.

I could probably eat Mongolian every single day.

That's a scary thought... Cheers!

I've been a bad, bad blogger...

So, over the past few days, life has definitely caught up with me and taken over. Between wonderful weddings and time spent with friends (and the preparations that go into traveling four hours one-way to reach said destinations), I completely ran out of time to pass along a recipe that an astonishing (to me) amount of people asked for after I Facebook-ed a picture of this dish! It's one of those recipes that helps you sneak in a ton of veggies in a low-fat-content meat and it still tastes amazing.

So, here it is: Turkey and Spinach Meatballs on Egg Noddles with Broth Gravy.

You're going to need:

1.5 lbs. ground turkey meat
3/4 cup stale bread crumbs
2 generous hand-fulls of fresh baby spinach, chopped
1/4 - 1/2 white onion, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, grated
1 large rib celery, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
Extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. wheat flour (or regular)
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
8 oz. uncooked egg noodles
sea salt and pepper to taste


How to make it happen:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the turkey meat,  bread crumbs, spinach, onion, celery, carrots, garlic and salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1 tsp. of each) and knead thoroughly to mix. Roll the mixture into balls and place them on a non-stick, greased baking sheet. (I make my meat balls about the size of a cupped palm; this recipe should make 12 meat balls.) Drizzle the meat balls with a small amount of olive oil, using about 2 tablespoons in total. This helps to get your meatballs crispy. Bake the meatballs for 25-30 minutes, until they begin to turn golden-brown on top.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the egg noodles according to package instructions about 12 minutes before your meatballs are finished.

Meanwhile, melt the unsalted butter in a large, high-sided skillet with 1 turn-of-the-pan of olive oil. Sprinkle in the wheat flour, stirring the mixture as it forms a roux. When the mixture is thick and bubbling, stir in the chicken or veggie stock and add salt and pepper to taste. Stir constantly until a slightly thick, light colored broth gravy is finished.

Drain the egg noodles and combine them with the gravy in a large bowl. Stir to coat the noodles. Serve with the meatballs and enjoy a meal that is full of good stuff in disguise!

Sunday Best

This day has been amazing. My family found a church home in Huntsville!

We got up to get ready for services this morning on about four hours of sleep after having a family birthday celebration last into the wee-hours of the morning and an hour and a half drive after it was all over, but we both woke up ready to come join the Huntsville FUMC family.

If you're not a contemporary protestant worship service attender, let me fill ya in: When you join or transfer your membership, the congregation greets you and rejoices! It's a glorious thing to witness... but a little intimidating to experience if you've not seen it before, like my husband.

The service was great, even though I have to admit I kind of tricked David into complying with the "new member festivities." He's a very introverted personality, and while standing in front of a group of people with the spot light on may be right up my ally, he's not so much of a fan. So, I just decided to leave the part about standing in the front of the church with a zillion eyes on you out of the story. :] We talked about it on our short drive home though, and he's quite satisfied that things happened the way they did. Hooray!

I feel very blessed already to know the members of the congregation that I know and I'm really excited to get to know more people as time progresses.

Since I'm so happy and so excited today, I knew EXACTLY what I wanted for lunch... my Sunday Summer Favorite... AKA... Sunday Cranberry Chicken Salad!

This meal just makes me happy. It's cold but rich, satisfying and fresh, and I'm going to let myself continue to believe that it's healthy. Dangit. It's healthy.

Sunday Cranberry Chicken Salad

Here's what I use:

2 1/2 cups rotisserie chicken, removed from the bones, skin removed and finely chopped/shredded
1/2 cup fat free vanilla yogurt
4 - 5 Tbsp. olive oil mayonnaise (more if you like your chicken salad wet, less if you like it on the dry side)
1/8 tsp. yellow whole grain mustard
salt and pepper to taste (I use about 1/4 Tbsp. of each)
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

Here's how I do it:

Combine ALL ingredients into a medium sized mixing bowl. Stir until well blended. Refrigerate for 30 - 45 minutes and serve.

I usually serve this lovely little salad open-face sandwich style using toasted honey wheat bread and fresh baby spinach... but I've also been known to eat the salad right out of the mixing bowl. How you serve it is completely up to you!

Cheers!

Mobility for Foodies... How good can this get?!?

Let's face it. When it comes to feeding the inner Foodie, you've typically got three choices, each with pros and cons:

COOK IT. This involves buying the ingredients, preparing them, creating them and indulging in the final product. PROS: You control everything from ingredients and calories to prep and cooking time. CONS: Well... you've got to do it. Make it, clean it. That's not always fun.

DRIVE THRU IT. No explanation needed. You get in the car, talk to a menu, drive to a window, collect your food and stuff your face on the way to your destination. PROS: Cheap, quick and dirty... in a conscious sense, which leads me to the CONS: You drive thru it, it drives thru you. In general, fast food isn't synonymous with health food. My Daddy refers to fast food as "The 99 cent heart attack in a bag."

DINE OUT. Like visiting the drive thru, someone else does the work. PROS: Like cooking yourself, you generally have more options and orders are generally easily customizable. You get to enjoy the atmosphere of the restaurant and you don't have to do the dishes or throw out the trash. CONS: If you're a frugal Foodie like I am, conscious and the pocket book won't allow you to chose this option more than a few times per month.

We've been in Huntsville, Texas for almost two months now and we've done our share of all three types of feeding the inner-Foodie. Thanks to word-of-mouth, today I discovered this little gem... Emmie's Eatery, Huntsville's first combination of the three main Foodie feeding categories.

At Emmie's Eatery, which is compeltely mobile but in no way a roach coach, you can enjoy all of those fine foods that you wish you could cook at home but are too intimidated to try (okay, at least, that's my POV). Example? Crepes with Nutella and strawberries, pulled chicken crepes and pulled pork sliders among other fresh and health-conscious varieties on the menu.

Here's how it works: You drive up to Emmie's eatery (like at a drive thru), place your order (as in a drive thru or dine-in) order the gourmet food from the clean facility and friendly staff (dine-in... check!) and then... you take it home.

Sometimes, I pretend like I've created something as amazing as Emmie's food... but let's get real, I just drove to 1219 14th Street, across from Huntsville's Public Library, and placed my order!

Cheers!

Cinnamon Dolce Ice Cream? Count me in.

Welcome to Foodie [UN]famous. This site is, as I am, completely un-famous (notice, infamous is NOT the word I was looking for here). The way things work around here is modeled after the way things work in the South. We're not uptight. We're not in a hurry. We definitely enjoy our food.

Though I don't believe in eating dessert first (because I believe the meal should be as enjoyable as the post-feast calories), I am starting with a dessert recipe... because that's what we had for dinner tonight! Yep. I fed my family ice cream for dinner. Every kid in America now wishes to call me, "Mom."

Let's get started, shall we?

I love two things in copious servings: 1) cinnamon dolce lattes from Starbucks and 2) ice cream. So, today while at the store, I had one of those light bulb moments: cinnamon dolce ice cream.

My husband, whom you'll get to know as Sergeant, just raised an eyebrow at me when I suggested this combination of things. His weird looks aren't a deterrent, however. He usually just gives me *that* kind of look and silently watches while I get myself into foodie shenanigans.

I used my favorite base recipe for ice cream and added just a splash of cinnamon dolce syrup (which you can buy, with a pump, at your neighborhood Starbucks store for around $10). Here's how it goes:

The secret: Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce syrup!

1 1/2  cups cold milk
1 1/8  cups organic granulated sugar
3        cups heavy whipping cream
3.5     ounces Starbucks cinnamon dolce syrup
ground cinnamon to garnish
caramel sauce to garnish

Mix the cold milk and sugar together with a whisk until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the heavy whipping cream and Starbucks cinnamon dolce syrup. Stir gently. Add the mixture to your automatic ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer's freezing instructions. When your ice cream has reached a good, thick consistency, remove it from your ice cream freezer and spoon it into an air-tight container. Put it in the freezer and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Scoop into bowls with a spoon or ice cream scoop and garnish with a dash of ground cinnamon and caramel sauce, if you desire.

Eat. Taste. Savor. Enjoy!