Jun 30 2012

Spicy Turkey Mac & Cheese

I love Mac & Cheese. Baked or stovetop, I don’t care – it’s all good for me!

You know what else I love? Mac & Cheese as a meal. But somehow, I don’t feel like mac & cheese alone makes a meal.

This one does.

The addition of ground turkey with a spicy kick makes this one hearty enough to eat alone. And the pasta is cooked over a simmer in the milk, so there’s no draining and it gives it a more creamy flavor.

Plus, it’s easy and fast, and it satisfies the little girl in me (who loved the blue box mac & cheese) while not making me feel overly guilty for eating it.

Ingredients:
Recipe adapted from Macaroni and Cheesecake

3 cups milk
2 cups uncooked whole grain penne pasta
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb ground turkey
3/4 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, seeded & diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & finely diced
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 TBSP olive oil

Directions:

Pour uncooked pasta and milk into a large saucepan over medium heat. Let milk come to a simmer (do not boil). Cook the pasta, simmering, for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through.
Meanwhile, heat a skillet with olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion, red bell pepper, garlic, jalapeno pepper, and ground turkey. Cook until turkey is browned and onions and peppers are softened.
Once the pasta is cooked through, add the salt and pepper and cheddar cheese and stir until the cheese melts. Pour turkey mixture into the pasta and stir to evenly coat. Serve and enjoy!

Jun 28 2012

Habanero Mayonnaise

Need a little spice in your life? Or maybe just on your sandwiches? Yes?

This mayo will do just the trick.

Recently, I started making our own homemade mayo thanks to a recipe I pinned on Pinterest. I made it exactly as is the first time, then made my own adjustment (we like it better without any olive oil). After successfully making plain mayo a few times, and with an over-abundance of habanero peppers thanks to the plant in my garden (which has given us over 30 habaneros already!), I decided to put a spicy twist on a common condiment.

All I can say is, the hubs loves me even more after this concoction. And I can also say that he’s happy that there will soon be many more habanero-themed dishes/condiments/salsas etc, because our plant is producing so many that we are giving them away! But I gotta use some of these hot peppers for us, too!

I originally was going to call this “Habanero Lime Mayonnaise”, but honestly, you can’t really taste the lime. The habanero, however, is a different story!

I immediately put some homemade roasted chicken, avocado, and tomato on that piece of bread and had a delicious sandwich. This mayo totally made the sandwich!

Ingredients:
Recipe adapted from Spain in Iowa

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 TBSP fresh-squeezed lime juice (lemon juice works just as well)
1 cup grapeseed oil
1 habanero pepper

Directions:

Slice habanero and remove seeds. Put it in the blender with all other ingredients except grapeseed oil. Pulse the blender or blend on low for just a few seconds, until ingredients are mixed and habanero is blended smooth.
If using a Vitamix (this is what I use), turn on low speed (or somewhere between variable 5-7) and add oil slowly. You can add about 1/4 cup to start, then just pour through the hole in the lid at a somewhat slow pace. It should take less than a minute to make the mayo in your VitaMix. Store immediately in the fridge to keep for a week or see note below to have it keep for 2 months.
If using a regular blender, turn onto high speed and add oil very slowly until it is thickened to a mayo consistency. It may take a few minutes, but be patient because adding the oil slowly is the key (I know this because I came up with mayo water one time when I decided to add it all at once – no bueno). Store immediately in the fridge to keep for a week or see note below to have it keep for 2 months.
If you want your mayo to keep for up to two months, add 1 TBSP whey and let it sit on the counter for 6-8 hours. Whey is the biproduct of cheese, yogurt, etc. You can drain plain yogurt on several layers of cheesecloth to easily get whey. Once you have let it sit at room temperature, store it in the fridge.

Note: If you do not like things very spicy, use half or even a quarter of the habanero. If you like things ultra spicy, do not seed the pepper or only remove a few seeds. The mayo has a definite “kick”. It is perfect for me, and I like things on the spicier side. The hubs, however, requested it be even spicier (but he’s on the verge of crazy when it comes to spicy things…ha!).

This recipe was shared on Full Plate Thursday, Little House in the Suburbs DIY Linky

Jun 26 2012

Dairy Free Chocolate Ice Cream (No Refined Sugars)

Creamy and chocolatey, it has the taste and look of real chocolate ice cream, but it has no dairy and no refined sugars. Score!

I’ve made ice cream in my Vitamix many times by using both bananas and ice as a base. While I love the recipes, they are more soft-serve or frozen yogurt style, and I wanted something scoop-able! This is the perfect recipe (though it had already melted a tad by the time I took my pictures).

After a few months of making the other recipes, I was longing for traditional chocolate ice cream. I just wanted a healthy chocolate ice cream that was creamy, not icy, and tasted like chocolate, not chocolate banana! It has no ice, so it does not have that “icy” consistency, and it has no bananas, so no banana flavor. The secret ingredient that makes it creamy? Coconut oil!

I’m envisioning a lot more ice cream flavors in the near future …

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 TBSP cocoa powder
3 TBSP pure maple syrup (or honey, if you prefer)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a VitaMix and blend until thoroughly mixed (it may be best if the coconut oil is softened first, though I didn’t need to do that). Pour mixture into ice-cube trays and freeze until hard, at least 4 hours.
Place as many ice cream cubes into Vitamix as you want. With your Vitamix Tamper, blend on high and simultaneously push down hard. Mix just until creamy, acting fast enough as to not melt the ice cream. Use an ice-cream scoop to serve.

Serves 2 people

Note: If you do not have a Vitamix or other high-speed blender, it’s possible that you could make this in a food processor, but I have not personally tried this myself. Regular blenders cannot handle so much frozen food.

This recipe was shared on Traditional Tuesdays, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Whatcha Whipped Up Wednesday, Allergy Free Wednesday, What’s Cooking Wednesday

Jun 24 2012

Grilled Summer Squash

The hubs is not a picky man. Not at all. I’m really lucky to have a guy that actually loves all the healthy meals I cook. But he has been breaking my heart with one thing: squash. He hates it!

Look, I love the guy a lot. I mean, a lot. But I was tired of picking up squash at the grocery store but then putting it back because I didn’t want to cook it just for myself. And I think my squash-loving heart cried a little each time I put it back.

Okay, maybe that’s a little extreme.

But it was true: every time I’d cooked squash before, the hubs would try it and not like it. But I knew I would change his mind if he could just have grilled squash. It’s my absolute favorite way to eat squash! Only one problem: I had no idea how to use the grill. So, I told the hubs we were having squash for dinner and that it would be grilled and I promised he’d like it. And I also asked him to pretty please teach me how to use the grill.

I cooked the squash with Lime Grilled Chicken on the grill and in the time that I took to prepare a small plate for myself with only four pieces of squash and take pictures of it for the blog, the hubs had taken care of the rest of the squash. Gone. Buh-bye. No more. Yeah, he ate all my squash!

Well, good news is, I can make it again and again and again. But, I’m serious y’all, if you’ve never had grilled squash, try it! It’s incredible. A guy that hated the squishy texture and wouldn’t even touch it absolutely devoured this squash. And I like me some sauteed squash, but this is really on a whole ‘nother level. Seriously!

Oh, by the way, all you need to make this recipe is squash, olive oil, and salt and pepper (oh, and a grill). Please, can this be any more awesome?! I don’t think so!

Ingredients:

3 Summer Squash
Sea salt & pepper, to taste
Olive oil spray (or olive oil & a brush)

Directions:

Slice squash longways to 1/4″ thick. On a baking sheet (line with foil to avoid a mess), lay out squash side by side, not layered. Spray (or brush) with olive oil and grind fresh sea salt and black pepper to your desired taste. Flip and repeat on other side.
Grill at 500* for 4-5 minutes on each side. Squash will have grill marks and be flimsy, not firm, when it’s cooked.

This recipe was shared at Meatless Monday, Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Jun 23 2012

Lime Grilled Chicken

FINALLY! I know how to use the grill! (*squee!*) Up until a couple days ago, I didn’t even know how to turn the thing on. That is just not okay for a girl who likes to cook everything herself. I felt handicapped, like I could make any recipe in this world … unless if it was grilled.

So is not the case anymore! The hubs taught me how to grill! And since it’s a gas grill, it’s incredibly easy and I’m kind of mad that I waited this long to ask how to use it. Now we’re going to have a grill-ified summer!

This chicken is super easy to prepare and cook. You don’t need any fancy ingredients, yet it’s still very healthy and flavorful. The kick of lime gives it a Key West flair.

Here is my grilled chicken along with one of my all time favorite veggies, grilled squash. I’ve been holding back for a long time on buying squash – even though it’s my favorite – because the hubs swore up and down that he didn’t like squash. I had a feeling this recipe would change his mind. Boy was I right. And it’s also super simple, and will be posted soon

Garnish this chicken with a little extra lime juice if you like it a little stronger (like me). It has just a hint of lime flavor straight off the grill, but the extra lime juice squeezed over it really took it over the top for me. Mmmm, sooo good!

Ingredients:

2 lbs chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2″ thickness, fat trimmed off
1 lime
salt & pepper
garlic powder
poultry seasoning

Directions:

Pound chicken to 1/2″ thickness and trim off fat. Cut lime in half and squeeze juice from one half onto chicken on both sides. Season to taste with salt & pepper, garlic powder, and poultry seasoning.
Grill at 500° for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until chicken is cooked through.
Drizzle with juice from remaining lime half, if desired, and serve.

This recipe was shared at Melt in Your Mouth Monday