Taco Salad with Avocado Cream

A while back and I wanted something that would be satisfying to my want of something not so healthy, but doesn't do too much damage to my food plan. A co-worker mentioned a avocado garlic dressing that she had made for dinner and it inspired me to go looking for a recipe for something like it and I found a what inspired our dinner.

Avocado Cream Dressing
1 Lg or 2 small ripe Avocados
2 Tblsp Lemon Juice
1 handful of cilantro, mince fine
1 Garlic Clove, minced (I use a garlic press)
1/4 c. Olive Oil
Water
a generious pinch of salt (to your taste)

Mix avocado, lemon juice, cilantro, garlic and oil using a stick blender or in a small blender, add water a tablespoon full at a time until desired consistency (I like mine pretty thick so I can spoon it onto things). Add salt a little at a time and taste to get the flavor that suits you.



Taco Salad
1 lb Ground Beef
1/2 c. Yellow Onion, medium dice
Cumin
Chili Powder
Turmeric
Salt & Pepper
Chopped Romaine Lettuce
Diced tomatoes
Sliced Olives
Grated Cheese
Sour Cream
Whatever you like on your salad

Brown ground beef, onion and salt and pepper (you may need a little oil depending on how lean your meat is, I like 80/20) in a medium heavy skillet. Add equal  parts cumin,  chili powder and turmeric until it reaches the desired flavor you enjoy.

For us, we have the remaining ingredients prepped and in separate bowls so each person can built their own salads. I start with a generous pile of lettuce, a good spoonful of the taco meat, and then pile on the other toppings and a good amount of the Avocado Cream to top it off. And if I'm feeling the need for a little cheat, I can add a few corn chips on the side. 

Roll ups in the Park

Over the weekend we had the opportunity to hang out at Laurelhurst Park in Portland and watch some improv Shakespeare. It was a fun mix of traditional Shakespeare and silliness as they interacted with the audience, including a referee with a whistle. 

  

  

The plan was to pack a picnic and eat while we were at the park, but once we got there we found ourselves packed into a small area, four adults, one dog and a toddler, which proved to not be overly accommodating to fixing a meal. This led to a round of snacking on random items we had  brought along but never getting around to fixing the roll ups I packed as our main entree. With a restless toddler, we found ourselves abandoning the play, walking around the lake and moving to the playground, but all it all it was still a nice afternoon away from the house and the stress we have been dealing with over the last month or so.

Hanging around the house later in evening we decided to pull out the roll up makings that traveled to the park and back and have some dinner. So check out this simple idea that would have been a great picnic fare under different conditions.


Roll ups in the Park (or the living room)
The thought process behind the roll ups came from playing with my food as usual. I took the crepe recipe I posted a while back for pigs in a blanket    
http://coralsgrocerybag.blogspot.com/2014/06/pigs-n-blanket.html and omitted the sweetener and cinnamon and replaced it with a dried herb mix for a dill dip/dressing, you can use any fresh or dried herb mix that fits your fillings.  

I packed leaf lettuce leaves and a herb roasted chicken breast lunch meat I picked up at small local market in our area. 

Layer a crepe with lettuce and chicken, and simply roll up carefully as to not tear the crepes. You could spread your crepes with flavored cream cheese or a spicy mustard,  layer your favorite cheese with the meat of our choice. it's totally up to you, use the savory crepe as you base and have some fun. Who says you always need bread for a picnic!

Creamy Tomato Beef Stroganoff

Around 15 years ago I did a stent as a bookkeeper for the Old Spaghetti Factory corporate offices. I did the books for five of the locations here in the Northwest. I had the three Oregon locations and two in Washington which allowed me a closer contact with my location general managers and the opportunity to visit the locations regularly than the other staff bookkeepers in the office. Needless to say I also had the opportunity to eat plenty of the food as well. My office was upstairs from the main restaurant on the river in downtown Portland and in the many visit to the main dinning room I got hooked on one of their dishes that is still a favorite on the menu even today. 

My downfall was their Factory Favorites Chicken Fettuccine, but it was always with a twist. I would order the Chicken Fet with half alfredo sauce and half their chunky tomato marinara. When it arrived at the table I would mix the two sauces together into a rich creamy sauce the coated the pasta with a rich silkiness that I still love, but the carbs in the pasta and the flour in the sauce doesn't love me.

So with my love for this combination, I got to thinking about how I would create a sauce that was just as enjoyable but healthier and in the guidelines of my eating plan that I try to follow, and this what I came up with. 

Creamy Tomato Beef Stroganoff

1 lb ground beef

1 32oz jar of sugar free marinara sauce

1 8oz package full fat cream cheese

1/2 Large head of cabbage, thin sliced into ribbons

1 lg onion, thin sliced

salt & Pepper

Grated Parmesan Cheese for garnishment

Brown ground beef in large skillet or roasting pan. In a separate pan sweat the cabbage and onions in olive oil, with a good pinch of salt and pepper until translucent. 

Once meat is browned add cream cheese and stir around until softened and starting to coat the meat, add jar of sauce and continue to stir until heated through and cream cheese in incorporated into the thickened sauce. Pour over cabbage mix and toss. Serve up with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and enjoy.

 

 

Bacon, Spinach & Mushroom Egg Cups and Greek Chicken Salad

Well as usual, as I've been whizzing along at warp speed, life has thrown me another curve ball. On Sunday June 22nd we got the call that my husband's mom had been taken to the hospital and was dehydrated and quit ill. On Monday we were told that it was cancer and they thought six months, with in the next 24  hours that time line was reduced to a month, so Bob hopped a train on Wednesday the 25th and headed for Seattle. He was there to assist with transferring mom back to her home and the set up of hospice to assist with her care.

I made a one day round trip on Saturday the 28th with our two sons to basically get some time with her, not knowing how things were going to play out and have the chance to say our goodbyes. When I headed up I wasn't sure if Bob was coming home with us or if he was going to continue to say up there to assist with her care. As it turned out, his younger sister from Florida arrived and would be staying to help his older sister so he took his leave to come home for a few days.

That turned out to be very few, while he was at work on Monday June 30th he got a call saying that mom was going down hill fast, so he left work early and headed back up, after arriving at her house at 11pm she ended up passing away at the age of 91 at 2am Tuesday morning July 1st. He spent the week there with his sisters making all the arrangement for her services that were held on Saturday July 5th before his sister had to return to Florida. I drove up on Friday the forth and returned on Sunday. Our boys made one day round trips for the service and Bob finally came home on Monday the 7th after helping with some final details.

Friday the 11th we took care of some issues here at home and headed back to Seattle again to begin the process of cleaning out the house.  We put in an aggressive day and a half of work on the house before crawling back into our truck and made our way home.

Needless to say, during that three weeks of craziness I threw all eating standards to the wind. We ate on the fly, we ate random meals while home alone, in Seattle and on the road.  I ate odds and ends alone at home and while putting in allot of extra hours trying to stay on track at the office while taking extra days off for travel I ate at the restaurant frequently too, it was just plain hard on my system. 

With everyone home for the next few weeks its time to detox the system and find some balance in our eating and life. So with that in mind, here are a couple of my meal items for the week.

Bacon, Spinach & Mushroom Egg Cups
1 dozen Eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 c. Shape cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 lb bacon
1/2 to 1 c frozen spinach, thaw and squeeze the liquid out in a towel
1 lb sliced mushrooms

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (is should still be warm from baking the bacon)
While the spinach is thawing in  the sink, I lay all the bacon out on a baking sheet (with tall sides to catch the grease), place in a 400 degree oven  and bake until crispy, about 20 min depending on the thickness of your slices. Remove from baking pan to paper towels to drain. I save my grease drippings for other cooking. Once the bacon is cool, it should crumble easily.
With the bacon in the oven I brown the mushrooms in butter in a big fry pan, they must be browned in small batches, not crowding them in the pan or they will steam (this tip comes from Julia). With everything cooked off or prepped, mix together in a large bowl. Whisk up the eggs and milk (I use a stick blender, it will breakdown the whites) and pour over the other ingredients and stir together. Ladle into silicone muffin pans (I use a Jumbo muffin) and bake for 30-35 minutes. They will be fluffy and over the top, but as they cool they will shrink back. They store easily in an air tight container in the frig and can be warmed in the microwave or toaster oven. We take one of the jumbo or two of the standard muffins for a simple quick breakfast on the go.

Greek Chicken Salad
1 lg English Cucumber, quartered lengthwise, cut sticks in 1/4" slices
2 lg Tomatoes (4 Roma's will do too), rough chopped 
1 c. Feta Cheese, crumbled
1 sm can sliced Black Olives (or what ever olive you prefer)
1 Bell Pepper, diced small
1/2 lb diced cooked chicken meat or turkey breast
Greek Dressing (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/greek-salad-recipe.print.html)
(I played around with the dressing, made a double batch, used mayo in place the oil to make a creamy dressing and I think maybe next time I will try it with cream cheese to make it thicker)

Now comes the best part, toss it all in a large bowl and mix it up. Eat now or store it up for later.

 

 

So there you have it, my breakfasts and lunches for the week, 

and here's to getting back on track!

Hamburger Stew with Cheesy Grits

Finding myself feeling very grateful to have this week behind me and a couple of days ahead to enjoy. Had a couple of late nights working, nights of errand running and finally a night to kick back and catch up on some our recordings on the DVR. 

With a week of random eating I was ready to make something homemade and on the comfort food side of things. 

As I flipped through the cupboards I came across a partial box of grits and that set me to  thinking. Grabbed a pound of hamburger from the freezer and went to work. 

Hamburger Stew
1 lb Ground Beef
1/2 Yellow onion, minced
1 can Diced Tomatoes with Green Chili's
Chili powder
Cumin
Tumeric
Salt & Pepper

In a large skillet brown ground beef, onion and seasonings to taste and cook stirring regularly until onions are cooked through. Add tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes.

 

While stew simmers make a batch of grits according to the packaging, adding 1-2 cups grated cheese (I used sharp cheddar) after grits begin to thicken.

Ladle a good scoop of grits into your favorite bowl and spoon stew over the top, and add a dollop of sour cream. For me I enjoy stirring it all together as I eat the rich cheesy goodness. 


I know I've become the queen of one bowl suppers that are hardy and filling.  We raised four kids on a tight budget and simple meals with just a few ingredients and only take a short time to prepare are at the heart of my cooking.

A night off

It's only Tuesday and it feels like I've put in a full week already. Worked at home yesterday which has it's benefits, like warm fuzzy dogs sleeping on my feet while I work. But I found myself working until after 8pm last night. Needless to say, a quick bite out handled dinner and back to work I went.

Today I had a full day at the office with the executive staff hanging around keeping me on my toes doing extra projects for them on top of trying to get my own work done. So tonight I just wanted to get out of the house and have an enjoyable evening and not think about all the stresses that seem to be over taking my day to day life. So we grabbed one of the dogs and off we went to the local evening farmers market.

Tonight included a simple German sausage on a stick with spicy mustard and wandering around the market just enjoying the fresh air.  To top off the night we had the opportunity to visit with a bunch of old friends from a church we used to attend, and had time to catch up with everyone and a chance to make plans to get together at a later date.

I didn't take the camera, I didn't plan, I just enjoyed time with friends and we even treated ourselves to some ice cream from the local pharmacy that sells it as a fund raiser for the local kids in the community.

It's okay to sometimes just take a night off.

Pigs-N-Blanket

My oldest son and daughter in law have be traveling this no carb road with me for a while now, and they are diligent in finding recipes and trying out new things which is great to have someone to bounce things off of and to try recipes with. A while back they came across a recipe for what was called pancakes, but they are thin and delicate much more like a crepe and absolutely wonderful.

When I headed for the freezer last night to pull some meat for dinner tonight, I spotted a beef roast but that will take a few days to thaw (its resting the frig), but I also found a package of pork link sausages that made for a perfect start for breakfast for dinner tonight.

So with my package of sausage cooked off, and a batch of crepes, we had a fun batch of Pigs-N-Blanket. And my poor husband who is along for this ride managed to eat two full plates of them!

Grain Free Crepes

8 oz Cream Cheese - softened
8 Eggs
3 packet Stevia
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix all the ingredient with a stick blender or in a standard blender. Heat griddle and keep greased with each batch of crepes cooked (I use a spray coconut oil or butter & a brush).
Using a 1 oz ladle make each crepe, they cook super quick, when they start to dry around the edges give them a careful flip and they will be ready in just another minute.
I had a time flipping them the first time I made them, if you make them too large they want to split with the impact on the griddle. So keeping them small they are easy to produce. 

We used our favorite pork sausage with a bit of sugar free syrup to create our dinner, find your own favorite way to use these fun little crepes. I'm thinking next time I'm thinking skip the cinnamon and sweetener and make them savory with some herbs. I can see them rolled up with meat and cheese as great way to have something for lunch or a snack!