Cheap Eats: Rice and 'Peas'

Pin It So, I'm in my kitchen yesterday wondering what to cook for dinner.
I see that I have a package of organic chicken breast (steal of a deal in my local supermarket this week) and rice in the pantry.  I'm not in the mood for my normal Arroz con Pollo, so I pull up MYRECIPES.COM (see previous post) and type in chicken tenders and rice.  Up pops two recipes  - Oatmeal-Crusted Chicken Tenders and Classic Jamaican Rice and Peas ...Add a salad and we have a delicious and healthy dinner in less than 30 minutes!

Classic Jamaican Rice and Peas
(Source: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/classic-jamaican-rice-peas-10000000523888/)

Ingredients

• 1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 3 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 cup long-grain white rice (such as jasmine)
• 1 (15-ounce) can dark kidney beans, rinsed and drained (I used black beans in my version.)

Preparation

• Combine the first 7 ingredients (through garlic) in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. Stir in rice; reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook 20 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove pan from heat; remove the thyme sprigs and garlic, and discard. Gently stir in the beans. Cover and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Oatmeal-Crusted Chicken Tenders
(Source: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/oatmeal-crusted-chicken-tenders-10000001227912/)

Ingredients

• 1 cup regular oats
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound chicken breast tenders
• Cooking spray

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 450°.
• Place oats in a food processor, and process for 20 seconds or until coarsely ground. Add cheese, thyme, salt, and pepper. Pulse to combine, and place in a shallow bowl.
• Place each chicken breast tender between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Coat both sides of tenders with cooking spray; dredge tenders in oat mixture. Place tenders on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes or until browned.

Have you tried MYRECIPES.COM yet? 

"I Gar-an-tee" you'll love this e-cookbook

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You may remember, back in April  I set a goal to widdle down my cookbook collection (See Post).  I'm making progress, but still have a ways to go.  One of the challenges I came across was the best means to keep the recipes I love while still leting go of the paper.

One of the solutions I found was MYRECIPES.COM (link here).  In addition, to the many cookbooks in my pantry were stacks of torn out pages from magazines, mostly Sunset or Coastal Living or Cooking Light.  At MYRECIPES.COM, you can find all recipes printed in these magazines and many more!  The coolest part of MYRECIPES.COM is that you can create your own recipe file - you simply type in your recipe and there it resides in digital cyberland, ready for you to access it at any time from any where in the world.  I've started several personalized recipe files on MYRECIPES.COM - one for all of my treasured family recipes, another for Christmas favorites, and others for various themes.  This will come in so handy when I'm on vacation or visiting family and want to cook one of my favorite specialties.  You can also create menus and shopping lists! But wait, there's more ... you can even access MYRECIPE.COM if you have a smartphone or an iPad / tablet (you lucky duck).  How handy is this when you're at the grocery store, see a sweet deal and wonder what you might make with the item and what other ingredients you need to go along with that sweet deal?!

The other great tool I'm using to keep those favorite recipes until I can populate my e-recipe file, is my Neatreceipts Scanner and the Neatworks data management tool.  This little device is the best organizing tool in my arsonal (see previous post here).  I simply scan that recipe and capture it in my computer on a pdf file.  Upload it to Google documents or Dropbox or whatever database on the Cloud that you like, and there it is - available to you 24/7 from any computer, smartphone or iPad/tablet (again, you lucky duck).  Imagine the possibilities ...  you are visiting with your grandkids and they plead for your special Monkey Bread.  Alas you don't have your recipe box with you - but you do have access to the internet :)  Sweet, tasty monkey bread is only a few keystrokes away and the kids think you are the best and coolest Grandma in the whole world!



I still am keeping a binder with all of the handwritten recipes given to me by my grandmothers, my mom and mother-in-law.  This keepsake binder is stored away with all of my other treasured memories so that the next generation will have them.

How do you store your favorite recipes?  Have you integrated the digital world into your kitchen?

Operation Write Home - BLOG HOP

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OPERATION WRITE HOME is hosting a

Christmas Card Blog Hop today!

Here is a showcase of some of my creations from
the Otter Hill Design Studio.

All images were found at The Graphics Fairy.
She has such a wonderful collection that provides
free downloads of any of her vintage images.  I often grab
old postcard images, like those above, to incorporate
into my handmade cards.

Making cards for our heroes overseas is such a small thing but has a big impact on our brave soldiers and their families.  Have you done something to bring a little 'surprise and delight' to a military hero? Leave me a comment and share your story?

Zucchini Treats - Bundt Cake

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Photo courtesy of MarthaStewart.com



The August 2011 edition of Martha Stewart Living (my all time favorite magazine) featured this bundt cake.  With a dozen zucchini sitting in the harvesting basket, I baked up this scrumptious treat for some very special guests.  It was the perfect sweet ending to a sunset dinner featuring everything harvested from our garden and beach!

My version

Zucchini Bundt Cake
(from Martha Stewart Living.  Recipe can also be found here.)


1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon anise seeds
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
Coarse salt
2 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces each)
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest, plus 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

Orange Glaze Orange Glaze (recipe below)

Candied Zucchini Strips (optional) Candied Zucchini Strips (Instructions below)

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Brush a 6-cup Bundt pan (surlatable.com) with butter, and dust with flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together flour, baking powder, spices, and 1 teaspoon salt.
2.Grate zucchini on the large holes of a box grater, then squeeze dry in a clean kitchen towel or press in a ricer. (You will need 2 1/2 cups.)
3.Stir together eggs and sugar, then stir in melted butter, zucchini, and orange zest and juice. Stir in flour mixture. Transfer batter to pan.
4.Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour (cake will rise quite a bit over the top of the pan but should not run over). Transfer pan to a wire rack, and let cake cool for 10 minutes. Run a paring knife around edges of cake to loosen, and turn out onto wire rack. Let cool for at least 30 minutes.
5.Brush several layers of orange glaze evenly over cake, and garnish with candied zucchini before serving.

Cook's Note:
Unglazed cake can be stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 1 day, or frozen for up to 1 month.


Orange Glaze


1 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 pinches of ground cardamom (optional)
¼ teaspoon finely grated orange zest, plus 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Whisk together sugar and cardamom. Whisk in orange zest and juice, and whisk until mixture has the consistency of thick honey. If mixture is too thick, whisk in milk 1 teaspoon at a time.



Candied Zucchini Strips

2 ½ cups sugar
2 cups water
2 medium zucchini very thinly sliced lengthwise (preferably on a mandolin)

Bring sugar and water to a boil in a saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add zucchini. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer, with a round of parchment placed directly on the surface, until zucchini are translucent, 15 to 20 minutes. Let zucchini cool in syrup.

Arrange zucchini in a single layer on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Let dry for 1 hour. Use immediately.

More Papertrey Fun

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This week's Make It Monday challenge from Papertrey Ink

was to use the Frosted Image technique.

This is the little lovely that I created for my

Send Love Today assignment.

Papertrey Ink also has a Blog Hop contest going on today.

The challenge is to create something with inspiration from

this photo.

This is my creation for the Operation Write Home basket.

Have a great week!

Zucchini Treats - Cookies

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Zucchini is one of my favorite crops from the garden

because of all of the ways it can be used in the kitchen.

Fortunately, the plants are fabulous producers and every year

I just can't wait to harvest them.

My favorite way to cook with zucchini is to use it

in baking.  When grated, it makes for a lovely moist base

for cookies.  I picked up this recipe years ago and modified it

to my liking - lots of healthy goodies. 

You can't feel guilty about eating these lovelies.

Some might even call it a breakfast cookie.

Zucchini cookies are a favorite of our youngest grand-daughter who

squirrels them away in her cheeks just to make sure

her daddy doesn't take them away before she's finished!

Zucchini Cookies


1 cup butter (room-temp)

1 ½ cup sugar

2 large eggs (room-temp)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups grated zucchini

2 cups all-purpose flour (You could mix whole wheat flour with regular flour for an even more healthy treat.)

1 ½ cups rolled oats

¼ cup ground flaxseed (optional)

¼ cup chia seed (optional)

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup mini-chocolate chips

½ cup raisins

1 cup shredded coconut



Preheat oven to 350deg. Cream together the butter and sugar, then beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in zucchini. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, oats, seed, baking powder, cinnamon, salt), then add to the zucchini mixture. Stir in the goodies (nuts, choc. chips, raisins, coconut); you can add whatever goodies you like such as other dried fruit or nuts). Drop by tablespoon onto cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden brown. The cookies will have a cake-like texture and store well in an airtight container or frozen for future enjoyment.


 
What are your favorite ways to cook with zucchini?  I have a dozen sitting in my harvesting basket just ready to bring pleasure.
 

Hurry Up and Wait

Pin It Blogging today from my phone. How cool is that?! Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks :)

Since living in the Pacific Northwest I've learned the lesson of patience while driving. There are many opportunities to learn this lesson - the wait lines for the ferries, while waiting for the various draw bridges to close, or even while waiting for a metro bus or lite-rail. Here we are today waiting yet again on the Hood Canal Bridge while a submarine passes by. I no longer am flustered by the extra 30 - 60 minutes added to my travel schedule. I relish it! I carry a set of knitting needles and a bottle of water & treats for Maggie, and then sit back and enjoy the view. Where else can you watch the sunset over the snowcapped Olympic mountains while a US naval submarine provides a glorious show?