Fridge on the fritz!

Our refrigerator broke on Saturday and coincided with the beginning of school vacation. UGH!!! Thankfully we had another smaller fridge in the basement and we didn't lose too much food. We've had this one for at least 9 years and never did much to maintain it, except kept it clean and changed the water filter.

We ventured out first on the internet to look at new models, how overwhelming- what size, what color, ice maker, blah, blah, blah... I am a touchy visual person so we went to Sears today to look at new refrigerators. We had narrowed down our choices a little and had looked at Consumer Reports before venturing out.

It took us about 45 minutes even after having done all of that homework. We choose a Stainless, energy efficient, ice maker, big one. I can't remember which brand we got, but I think it was GE or Kenmore. I was surprised how little difference there was between the more expensive models and the less expensive ones.

The best news is that it is being delivered tomorrow!!! I will admit that I am looking forward to starting with a new fridge, I LOVE to organize!

We ate at the Diner last night and I have some Bulgogi (Korean thinly sliced beef) I bought at Trader Joe's that I am going to cook tonight with some couscous and edamame.

Pasta with mushrooms and truffle oil

We had a really nice relaxing day today, the kids even bundled up and rode their bikes outside. We ate dinner with our neighbors tonight and I have been in the mood for truffle oil, so I made a really simple pasta. Here's the recipe.

Boil a pot of water for pasta, I used linguine.

While the water boils, melt 2 tbs unsalted butter in a pan on high heat. Rinse 1 package of button mushrooms and quarter. When the butter is melted, add the mushrooms and saute for 5-6 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and a couple grinds of black pepper. When the pasta is just al dente, add it to the mushrooms. Stir to incorporate and add 3 tbs. of truffle oil. The truffle oil is very strong, so don't be tempted to add much more. Add in 1 handful of chopped fresh parsley and about 1/4 C. of parmesan cheese. Serve.

We had some mahi mahi that I bought at Trader Joe's the other day. It was marinated and frozen and I let it thaw in the fridge, then I baked it at 400 for 15 minutes. It was ok, a little tough for my taste, but fine.

The pasta was a hit and we all enjoyed it.

Seriously easy chicken parmesan!

I went to Trader Joe's yesterday to buy the stuff to make Spanikopita (recipe to follow) and came out with a couple cool new products. One of them is the frozen cooked breaded chicken tenderloin breasts. I am always looking for healthy quick alternatives and the kids like my chicken fingers so I tried these tonight.

They are pretty healthy, 150 cal for 2 pieces and 4.5 grams of fat. You simply bake them in the oven at 400 for 15 minutes. They turned out crisp and tender. They ate them up and were asking for more, but I had only made 2 pieces.

I made a quick chicken parm for the grown-ups. I took 4 pieces of the chicken, placed it in a shallow cooking pyrex dish, put some tomato sauce on top (about 1 C.) and 1/2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese which I keep in the freezer. I baked the whole thing in the oven at 400 while the other chicken cooked for 20 minutes. Before I took it out of the oven, I put it on broil for 2 minutes to brown the cheese. It was great and sooooo easy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've just returned from my daughters' school where the little performed a bunch of adorable songs and dance!

In an effort to hear from those of you who may read the blog (is there anyone out there??) but not respond, I am now taking requests. If there is a recipe you'd like or have a cooking/dinner question PLEASE ask me!

I went to Trader Joe's today to buy 2 things and came out with 3 grocery bags full of stuff! That store does me in. I did buy some good looking things, frozen Mahi Mahi, I want to try my hand at frozen fish again, as well as some pre-breaded chicken breasts that looked rather healthy.

I got a great recipe for Spanikopita (Greek Spinach Pie) that I am going to make in the next day or two. I will tell you now that this will NOT be an easy recipe, working with phyllo dough is tough, it breaks easily, so you have to work rather fast.

I'll give the recipe after I see how it turns out. I also bought some seasoned bulgogi, which is a korean dish of thinly sliced beef in a marinade. I've bought marinated beef from TJ's before and it's turned out to be quite good.

Pork chops and apple sauce

This is one of my husband's favorite dinners and since he won't be home for valentine's day we are going to have an early family dinner tonight.

Preheat the oven to 450. If you have a heavy Le Creuset pan, use it, if not, use a skillet, then transfer to a cookie sheet.

Heat 1 Tbs. of oil in the pan on medium high heat. While the oil heats, place 1 C. of panko and 1 tsp. garlic salt onto a plate. Rinse the pork chops, spread a little bit of dijon mustard on each side of the chop and dredge them in the panko mixture.

You can use bone-in or boneless chops, but buy thick cut ones.

Cook the chops for 3-4 minutes one each side or until they begin to turn golden. Turn the chops only once.

Transfer the pan with the chops into the oven and bake for about 12 minutes.

I am going to serve this with potato latkes, apple sauce and boiled edamame.

Chicken thighs with mushrooms and onions

I tried a new recipe tonight based on something I saw on TV that had a 1 hour and 40 minute cook time- who has time for these?

Anyhow, here is my very tasty version of what I saw:

Heat a large nonstick pan on medium high heat. Add 1 Tbs. olive oil. While the oil heats, season the skin side of 4 chicken thighs with garlic salt, paprika and a pinch of pepper. When the oil shimmers add the thighs, skin side down to the pan and cook for 5 minutes or until the skin becomes golden brown. Turn the chicken and cook an additional 4-5 minutes.

While the chicken cooks, thinly slice 1 onion and rinse 1 package of sliced button mushrooms.

Remove the chicken from the pan (it will NOT be cooked through yet) and add in the mushrooms, onion and 1 Tbs. of unsalted butter. Stir around until the butter has melted. Add 1 Tbs. of flour to the pan and stir until the flour has incorporated, maybe 30 seconds. Add in 1 Tbs. of tomato paste or ketchup and 1 C. chicken stock- stir. The flour will thicken up the sauce almost immediately.

Add the chicken thighs back to the pan, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 15 more minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, boil water to make wide egg noodles. They only take about 8 minutes to cook, toss in some frozen peas and a little butter and cover with foil until the chicken is ready.

Serve the chicken and the sauce over the pasta and peas. We all loved it, except for 1 kid who doesn't like anything at the moment!!!

Broiled T-Bones

My clients often ask me what my favorite cut of beef is. I have 3. 1 is a boneless, NY strip steak, they are tender, juicy and very flavorful. 2 is a skirt or hangar steak if you can find them, and my 3rd is a T-Bone. You get a little porterhouse and a little filet.

I will say that filet is NOT my favorite cut of meat, it's too soft and not as flavorful as other cuts.

Tonight I broiled 2 t-bone steaks for us for dinner with a little pasta and some fresh cut veggies.

It's very easy to do. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Move the oven rack to the top 1/3 of the oven and turn the oven to high broil. While the oven heats, drizzle just a little olive oil on the steaks and mash 2 cubes of frozen garlic on each of the steaks. Add a pinch of salt and a good couple grinds of pepper. You will add more salt after the steak has cooked through.

Cook the steaks for about 4-5 minutes per side and serve. It doesn't get much easier than that. This method also works with the NY strip steak and the hangar steak, although the hangar takes about 1 minute less per side.

We are going to see a great folk singer tomorrow night, Lucy Kaplansky, and I am looking forward to it. Kirk will be left to his own devices for dinner with the girls... :)