Oven roasted Chicken w/ home veggies & low fat gravy

Okay, so this recipie was inspired by one of my favorite places in Paris. It sits on a perfect corner on Rue Cler. It was called Cafe du Marche. My ex-husband and I would go here all of the time and I always had the same dish (and then ate half of his while he ate the other half of my favorite.) That way, if we hated the other dish- we knew we would be leaving happy with mine. It was so simple, roasted chicken, potatoes with a simple gravy/dressing and a small salad. But many of the best recipies are always the ones that use the simplest of fresh ingredients and prepare them well. No wonder I loved Paris, and all of France for that matter.


Anyway, this was a simple roasted chicken. I let Ruben wash it up inside and out while I got the veggies ready. Just a few cut baby potatoes, sliced carrot, white onion and garlic. I threw in a little water so I had pleanty of gravy. A little salt, pepper and Pappy's and we were on our way.

We let it cook up for and hour and a half and it was perfect. I could have taken out all the chicken and veggies and then thickened the gravy... but no thanks. That is just another dish and I was set. I did not even really make a full salad, just a little lettuce and it added a great crispness to the meal. It was great. We ate a little for lunch and a little more for dinner and then we are making tacos tomarrow.

The kids loved it, I loved it, it used very few dishes and it is a usefull leftover. That is one of my favorite meals ever.

Banana Bread

okay, I made this banana bread the other day and it was great but I did not get many pictures. Well, with how easy this banana bread was to make I decided to make it again.

However, this time I had some leftover tropical pancakes that had been soaking in syrup. I really did not want to throw these away for a few reasons. For one we are totally broke. We really do not throw away much. But also, these were whole wheat pancakes, with kiwi, papaya and mango!!! I thought that sounded perfect for banana bread.

The basic recipe was really easy. I got it from the Joy of Baking site. I am in love with this site. But 1 problem I knew I was going to have was that I do not have any baking soda. We only have baking powder. After doing some research online I was able to determine that I could sub baking powder pretty easily for the same measurement. So that is what I did.

The recipe as called for by Joy of Baking is below.

After I got all my wet butter, banana, eggs and villa all together I threw in the rest of the kids pancakes. after mixing in the dry ingredients it seemed a little wet so i threw in a little more whole wheat flour.




I put it into a heart shaped baking dish (still the only 1 that I have!) The bread was great. It was finished off for breakfast the next day. The pancake did add to the flavor not only in the tropical fruit and syrup but also in making the bread a little heavier. It did more to fill you up.


Recipe:

1 cup (115 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)

1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 ripe large bananas (approximately 1 pound or 454 grams), mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Garnish: (Optional)

1 large banana, sliced or dried banana chips

Tropical pancakes

I have been really trying to think of new ways to use a lot of the fruits that either are starting to get too ripe or the ones that get smashed to bits on our way home. Well this morning I thought of a great idea... tropical pancakes.


I took some basic whole wheat pancake mix. I am not sure how much of a difference the whole wheat really makes but I am sure it is at least better for you. And I added 1 large but smashed kiwi and some chopped up bits of mango into the batter. i was a little worried that it would be too wet so I threw in a little bit of wheat flour.

They cooked up very nicely in the pan and I topped them with some mango and some papaya with a little syrup and a touch of powdered sugar. It was really tasty.

The really funny thing is... I have sort of a weird idea for the left overs. I made some banana bread the other night- it was my first batch and it turned out great. I did not get too many pics but anyway... I have decided to make it again but this time I am going to add my kids left over pancakes already moist with syrup.

I am not sure if this is going to turn out but we will see. That is the fun part.

Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce- loaded with vegetables

Now, ever since I have found wheat pasta at the supers here in town- we make noodles with marinara or bolognese at least once if not twice a week. We love it especially because of how many vegetables we have in the sauce but for how easy it is to reheat the next day or use in a new way. We love making french bread pizzas the next day!

Anyway. Another reason I love this recipe is because I hardly have to chop anything at all. With my hands in as bad of shape as they are I have come to LOVE and rely on my mini-chopper. First thing in is 1/2 to a whole clove of garlic- Once chopped I put a little a container with some butter to melt, the rest goes onto a little plate, next, the onion followed bell pepper.

I heat up a little oil in my skillet and and throw those all in with some salt, pepper and Pappy's. While those are getting soft and mixing together I blend up a head broccoli florets and then 3 carrots, I usually do not peel my carrots, just wash them up really well. and put those on the little plate.

After the onions, garlic and pepper are soft add the ground beef, you could ground turkey or chicken but I have not tried that yet. Once the meat is pretty cooked, add the broccoli and carrots and mix together. If I had celery or squash I would have added it here.

Then mini chop some tomatoes and throw those in with some tomato paste. At this point I usually add some cinnamon, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes and 1/2 a chopped jalapeno.

For the bread, we just mix the garlic into the butter and let it stand at room temp for a few minutes (here it melts within minutes) Cut the bread length wise, butter and grill until golden.

We usually serve it with a simple salad and save any leftover salad for salad or sandwiches the next day.

I love this meal. And the kids love it and there is almost no limit to what you can do with it. I love having extra sauce to make french bread or bagel pizzas or lazagna. And now with the whole wheat pasta I do not feel nearly so bad.

Mexican Grilled Grouper in a Tequila Marinade, with brown rice and veggies and sliced mango

So armed with left over brown rice and veggies that I made last night, I set out to make a grouper recipe that was adapted from this web site I had all the fixings for it so I thought that I would give it a shot.

I marinaded the grouper fillets in some tequila, orange liquor, lime juice, garlic and salt. I set the in the fridge for about a half hour or so. I took a picture - it is a pretty boring fridge. And our "pantry" is not that much more exciting.

I then made the salsa. This was just tomatoes, white onion, red onion a little garlic, salt, pepper, a little sugar, _ I would have put in jalapenos but I did not have any. So I added a little red pepper flakes in the kids salsa and then added red pepper flakes and a little habanero salsa to our pico de gallo

I lightly oiled my grill pan and set the fish on there to cook for about 5-6 min. each side. Meanwhile I put the marinade in a little pan and simmered while the rice and veggies that we had leftover reheated.

When served it was a fillet of the marinade liberally dressing the top (this would have been a great topping for fresh steamed veggies. We then piled the pico de gallo on the fish and served with the leftover rice and veggies and sliced mango.


It was a great lunch. It tasted very fresh and light.

I just found this great web site that looks like it has some great recipies for fish.

One pot veggies and brown rice or No broth veggie soup

This is a one pot version of a dish that I made all the time. A simple mixture of veggies much like I would make chicken with vegetable soup or vegetable soup.


I started by sauteing white and red onion, yellow bell pepper and garlic after a little while I added a few hand fulls of brown rice and let it brown on all sides. I am not sure why you do this but I have seen it in a few recipes so... why not,

Then I added a bunch of water and a little chicken bullion and Pappy's. Once it started to boil I added my carrots, broccoli and chaote.


At this point I could pretty much leave it alone and let it just cook and stir occasionally.

This was a very tasty meal for the kids and I.

Marinera sauce and wheat noodles

This was a real budget meal. With this whole out break of swine flu in Mexico. Money has been really tight lately. This recipie can be made with pretty much anything. This time I had on hand onion (red and white) garlic, tomatoes and a box of sauce .

Everytime I make this it is a real garbage bowl type of meal. You can add pretty much anything you want. It is also a really good way to get kids to eat a variety of vegetables. I chop my veggies in my little mini chopper and then the kids cannot pick them out.

I sauteed it all up, added the sauce and a bunch of basil (one of the herbs that is doing really well here)


When put on wheat noodles this turned into a pretty healthy meal. Yeah!!!!

This is also a great leftover meal. It is easy to reheat the sauce and can be used on more noodles, put on lasagna noodles or put on pizza dough or on french bread and make french bread pizza. The kids love this dish in all forms.

Penne with bacon wrapped Shrimp w/tomato, garlic white wine sauce

This dish was absolutely amazing. My girlfriend Jessica had recently watched an episode of Rachel Ray where they made this sort of dish and she could not wait to try it out. We did not need much. Just some garlic, onion - white and red, white wine, tomatoes (in Rachel ray they used cherry tomatoes- but the store did not have them) white wine, some bacon and some shrimp. We would have used the larger shrimp but the cocktail shrimp was all that was at this particular super.

We used spices like salt, pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning, Pappy's (obviously)and fresh from my garden we used basil- which is growing great here - and parsley.


This dish only used 2 pots which I love and the kids asked for seconds. The only thing that would make this a 100% guilt free meal is whole wheat pasta but I have not found that yet.

The first part is the only pain in the butt. You trim all or most of the fat from the bacon and wrap each piece of shrimp. . Again, we would have rather used larger shrimp but the pescaderia was not open. So we had to settle for cocktail shrimp but it was still bomb.


Fry the bacon wrapped shrimp until a little crispy in a large saute pan. Once they are brown on all sides transfer to a dish to drain. In the same pan saute onion, red onion, garlic, and tomatoes. We used 1 whole red onion, 1 small white onion, 1 small head of garlic, and 8 or so tomatoes. In the Rachel Ray one they used the little cherry ones and put them in and let them burst open. We seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano, italian seasoning & Pappy's. I went the my little herb pots ad grabbed a bunch of basil leaves and parsley leaves and threw them in at the last minute.


This dish was so good. It was the perfect dish to end what has been an amazing day. And this dish cost only 200 pesos and we bought every ingredient. And we have a ton for lunch tomorrow and were able to drink 2 glasses of wine with the rest of the bottle. PERFECT!!!! It was so good.

Huevos Rancheros & Chorizo & Egg Burritos

I love huevos rancheros. It is one of my favorite meals. I had a friend visiting recently and this was all she wanted to eat while she was here. I love this recipe. It is so easy to make.

In a small sauce pan I sauteed some onion and bell pepper. On my blog you will rarely see actual measurements. I think it is to each his own and add what you like. I have a very iron chef approach to cooking. Anyway... Saute onion and bell pepper (I used red this time) in a little oil. Once soft I added salt, pepper, cumin and cayenne pepper along with2-3 cloves of chopped garlic and 1/2 a chopped jalapeno. I would have use the whole jalapeno as it was not very spicy but we were also feeding the kids. Once that was all blended together I added some chopped tomatoes and a little tomato paste and a touch of water to thin it out.

Meanwhile in another pan I heated through a can of re fried beans. Many times I will make a large pot of beans - pinto or black and keep them in the fridge. Making them from scratch is easy, much cheaper and allows you to add a lot of flavor like cooked bacon,onion, garlic etc.


Then it was time to fry the tortillas. This is fast and easy. Simply heat some oil and throw in the corn tortilla. Once it starts to bubble a little, flip it over. Once it starts to bubble on the other side get ready to take it out. I like my tortillas a little crisp for this so I leave them in for another minute.

Start plating by spreading some beans on each tortilla ( you can double them up if you want but it adds a lot of extra oil and beans and tortilla instead of all of the fresh stuff so we do not. Add some of the cooked salsa to the beans and top with a soft to medium cooked egg.

Add a little more salsa and some avocado. I would have added queso fresco if I had it but I did not. Bummer. This is a filling breakfast and all parts of it can be made in larger batches and saved (well, not the eggs and tortillas) We almost always have a pot of beans and some salsa in the fridge ready to make more or any other meal.


My friends boyfriend love huevos con chorizo so once the eggs were cooked, I threw in some chorizo and fried it up and then added some eggs. I served this on a warm flour tortilla with some beans, the chorizo and eggs mixture and some salsa and avocado.

My husband is of course the person who wants both so needless to say he was very happy. But it ended up being 2 meals in one

Chicken and veggies with Thai chili sauce

This is sort of like chicken soup with out the soup. I would usually serve this with rice but we did not have any. That was a good thing because we really are trying to eat less rice and bread and tummy pouch causing foods.

So this dish starts with the same ingredients that I usually buy and the fruiteria. We always buy the same basics and then a few random things. As always, I used my mini-chopper (my favorite kitchen helper) to chop up some onion, red pepper, garlic and jalapeno. I cut up some broccoli, carrots and cauliflower and got all my spices out and ready. I have decided that a major part of my joy of cooking is dependant on preparing all of my foods. It also makes the dishes easier.

This dish was also nice because it was all cooked in 1 pan.


I started by making a little chicken stock. Once that was ready I put it in a bowl to the side and started on the veggies. I sauteed the onion, red pepper, and jalapeno until soft. I then added the chicken and the garlic. I let that cook just for a moment and then added the chicken stock.

After allowing it to cook for a few more minutes I added the carrots. I have really been focusing more on when and how long I let certain veggies cook because I have noticed how much more I enjoy slightly crispy veggies.

In goes in the broccoli and cauliflower. At all sorts of random times I add salt, pepper, Pappy's and and Thai sweet chili sauce. (I love this sauce)

Once everything was cooked it was ready to eat. We pulled all of the food out and left the liquid. After serving up the kids I added some more chili sauce to spice it up.

There was some left overs and it reheated on the stove very easily. We do not have a microwave so we reheat everything on the stove. This reheated very well.