Chicken Lettuce Wraps

For our K group (community group) Christmas party, we were all supposed to bring appetizers to share. I wanted to bring something that was healthy (so that I would eat it) but also yummy (so others would eat it)! I decided that chicken lettuce wraps would fit both of those criteria, and I found this recipe from Taste of Home. I thought they were good the first day, but I thought the leftovers were better because the chicken had more time to absorb the flavors of the sauce.


Chicken Lettuce Wraps (from Taste of Home)
Ingredients
* 1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
* 1 tablespoon plus 1-1/2 teaspoons peanut oil, divided (I used sesame oil)
* 3/4 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
* 1 can (8 ounces) water chestnuts, drained and diced
* 1 tablespoon minced fresh gingerroot
* 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
* 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium teriyaki sauce
* 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
* 1-1/2 cups shredded carrots
* 1/2 cup julienned green onions
* 12 Bibb or Boston lettuce leaves
* 1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Directions

* In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook chicken in 1 tablespoon oil for 3 minutes; drain. Add the mushrooms, water chestnuts and ginger; cook 4-6 minutes longer or until chicken is no longer pink. Drain and set aside.
* In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and remaining oil. Stir in the carrots, onions and chicken mixture. Spoon onto lettuce leaves; sprinkle with almonds. If desired, fold sides of lettuce over filling and roll up.

Orange Cranberry Cake

Orange and cranberry is one of my favorite flavor combinations. The tartness of the cranberries just goes so well with the sweet, fresh flavor of orange. It is a perfect holiday dessert! I found this recipe on Good Things Catered and chose to make it because I had almost all the ingredients on hand. Nick and I both liked the results despite the fact that I underbaked it a little- oops. I didn't have orange liquor or an orange for the zest so I just substituted extra orange juice in place of liquor and zest.

Orange Cranberry Cake (from Good Things Catered)
Ingredients:
3 c. flour, divided
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. oil
1 2/3 c. granulated sugar
2 Tbsp orange zest (I didn't use, but think it would be better with it!)
1 Tbsp orange liquor (I replaced with OJ)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 c. fresh orange juice
3/4 c. buttermilk
2 c. fresh cranberries

For icing:
2 c. powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3-6 tsp fresh orange juice


Directions:
-Preheat oven to 325 degrees spray bundt pan with cooking spray with flour.
-In bowl of stand mixer, add sugar, butter and oil and beat until light and fluffy in texture as well as color, about 5 minutes.
-Meanwhile, in medium bowl, combine 2 1/2 c flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
-Whisk to combine well and set aside.
-To sugar mixture, add orange zest.
-One at a time, add egg and beat to combine well.
-Add liquor and vanilla, beating to combine well.
-Add orange juice and buttermilk, mixing to combine well.
-Stop mixer and scrape down sides of bowl.
-With mixer on lowest speed, add flour mixture and mix until almost combined.
-Stop mixer and remove bowl.
-In bowl flour was in, add remaining 1/2 c. flour and cranberries.
-Toss to coat and add to batter.
-Using large spatula, fold cranberries and extra flour into batter just until combined.
-Pour batter into bundt pan.
-Tap on counter to remove air bubbles, smooth top of batter away from center of pan.
-Place into preheated oven on rack in center of oven and bake until toothpick inserted into center of pan comes out clean, about 1 hour.
-Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 20 minutes.
-Turn cake out onto wire rack and cool completely.
-Once cake is cool, in medium bowl, combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract and orange juice, 1 tsp at a time until medium consistency is achieved.
-Drizzle icing over top of cake, decorate with orange rind and fresh cranberries and serve.

Pasta with Roasted Vegetables and Sausage

We had this for our "Thanksgiving" with Dad, Carla, Josh, and Annie. It's obviously not your traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but we didn't want to have like 5 Thanksgiving dinners and Josh had to run in a 5 mile race the next morning. There is nothing better than pasta for a pre-race meal! Everyone seemed to like it, and it is great for cooking for a group because it doesn't require much extra work for the extra portions :) It is also really healthy because of the whole wheat pasta, vegetables, and using chicken or turkey sausage instead of regular. I will definitely make this again- In fact, I think I am going to make it next week for our K group (church community group)!

Ingredients
* 1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 in pieces
* 1 red or yellow pepper, sliced
* 1 cup sliced mushrooms
* 1 small yellow onion, diced
* 2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and slices
* 1.5 jars spaghetti sauce (We used Trader Joes Arrabiata)
* about 16 oz whole wheat bowtie pasta
* 1 lb spicy chicken or turkey sausage
* olive oil
* salt and pepper

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet (or 2) with tin foil and place veggies on baking sheet.
3. Mist veggies with olive oil (or drizzle if you don't have an olive oil spray thing) and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Put baking sheets in oven and cook until vegetables are tender, about 30 min.
5. While they are cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions on the box.
6. While the pasta is cooking, remove casing from sausage and cook over medium heat, stirring to crumble until sausage is not longer pink.
7. When pasta is done, drain and return to pot.
8. Add spaghetti sauce, roasted vegetables, and turkey sausage to pot and stir to combine.
9. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Serve in individual bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Serves 6-8 people.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Tonight we had stuffed acorn squash for dinner- I loved it! Nick really liked it too, but I don't think he could like it more than me! It was a very fall/wintery dinner, which was perfect for this cold day.

Ingredients:
1 acorn squash
1/2 cup brown rice (or about 1 cup cooked)
1/4 cup craisins (or raisins)
1 link of spicy turkey or chicken sausage
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
salt and pepper
2 Tbsp chopped walnuts, toasted

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut squash in half, crosswise (or on the "equator" according to nick) and remove seeds.
3. Put about half an inch of water in a baking dish and place squash cut-side-down.
4. Cook in oven until tender, about 40 minutes.
5. While squash is roasting, cook rice according to package directions.
6. Remove casing from sausage and cook in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, stirring to crumble.
7. In a medium bowl, combine cooked rice, cooked turkey sausage, craisins, walnuts, and goat cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Spoon rice mixture into squash.
(Serves 2, one squash half for each)

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

My freezer is stocked full with frozen bananas that were "past their prime" for eating, but they are perfect for baking! I saw these muffins on Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, which is a blog I love to read because she makes so many delicious desserts. Her recipes have never let me down and this time was no exception! They were really good and had just a hint of the espresso taste. I will definitely make these again!

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 ½ cups mashed, very ripe bananas
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup 2% milk
1 large egg
1/3 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp instant espresso powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, sugars, butter, cream cheese, milk and egg.
In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Fill each sup about three-quarters full. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Move the muffin pan to a cooling rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and let them finish cooling on the cooling rack.

Roasted Eggplant Sandwiches

I was trying to think of something to do with the eggplant that we had left over from the roasted eggplant towers and decided to make some sandwiches. I was really surprised at how good they turned out! I think I said about three times during dinner how much I liked them. Nick liked them too- I had made him one chicken sandwich and one eggplant, and he actually liked the eggplant better! I will definitely be making these again in the future for a quick, casual dinner.

Ingredients-
Whole wheat bread (I recommend using the bread from a bakery rather than typical sandwich bread)
Roasted red pepper, sliced (I roasted ours, but you can buy the jarred kind to save time if you want)
Roasted eggplant slices (See this post on roasting eggplant)
Pesto
Olive oil mayo (or light mayo)
Tomato, sliced
Crumbled goat cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat broiler.
2. Toast bread in a toaster or under the broiler.
3. Spread a thin layer of mayo on one slice of bread
4. Spread a layer of pesto on top of the mayo.
5. Place slices of eggplant, followed by roasted red peppers, and tomatoes on the bread.
5. Sprinkle goat cheese on top of tomatoes.
6. Place sandwiches (open faced) under the broiler to slightly melt the cheese.
7. Remove from oven and top with second piece of bread.

Roasted Eggplant Towers

Tonight's dinner was just kind of a "create as I go" type dinner, but it turned out pretty well! I knew I would like it going in because it involved 3 of my favorite things: spaghetti squash, marinara, and broccoli. I don't know why, but I had been wanting to try eggplant for a while now. I decided that roasting it was the way to go. I don't really know that I did it right because I think there is some sort of process to get the excess water out, but I just guessed. It seemed fine to me, but maybe it could have been better- I don't know?? Anyway, Nick and I both really liked it, and it was very healthy since it was pretty much all vegetables!


Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
1 bunch of broccoli
1 medium eggplant
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup of marinara (I used Trader Joe's Arrabiata sauce- I was very impressed with it)
Shredded or shaved Parmesan
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
2. Slice the eggplant crosswise into half inch slices.
3. Place slices of eggplant in a single layer and sprinkle with salt.
4. Place another layer of paper towels on top, pressing down lightly. Let sit for about 20 minutes. Then, with a dry paper towel, blot to pick up any remaining moisture.
5. Preheat oven to 375.
6. Cut broccoli into florets, toss with 1 Tbsp of olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
7. Brush eggplant with 1-2 Tbsp olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
8. Put eggplant and broccoli in oven to roast. It will probably take 25-35 minutes, but you will want to check and take them out when they are tender.
9. Cook spaghetti squash according to these directions (but without the tomatoes).
10. Once everything is cooked, assemble each plate with a pile of spaghetti squash, 3 slices of eggplant with marinara poured over each layer, and then add the broccoli. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Stuffed Peppers

I think the last time I had a stuffed pepper had to have been in the early 90's. Do people even make these anymore??? I am not really sure what made me want to make these, but they were really good and healthy "comfort" food! I found the recipe on Simply Recipes and only made a couple small changes.

Ingredients

* 6 bell peppers (I used a variety of colors)
* 1/2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
* 1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
* 3/4 lb of 96% lean ground beef
* 1/4 lb of lean ground turkey (you could use all beef or all turkey if you want)
* 1 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice
* 1 can diced tomatoes with oregano and garlic, drained
* 1 tsp of dried oregano
* Fresh ground pepper
* Salt
* 1/2 cup ketchup
* 1/2 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce
* Dash of Tabasco sauce

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, cut top off peppers 1 inch from the stem end, and remove seeds. Then add peppers to the water and boil, keeping peppers completely submerged, until their flesh slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Drain, set aside to cool.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 1/2 tbsp of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, add meat, rice, tomatoes, and oregano, and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well.

3. Arrange peppers cut side up in a baking dish, then stuff peppers with filling. Combine ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl, then spoon over filling. Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish. Place in oven and bake for 40-50 minutes (or longer, depending on how big the peppers are that you are stuffing), until the internal temperature of the stuffed pepper is 150-160°F.