Saturday evening I successfully convinced Randy to make his yummy beef nachos to enjoy with a beer or two. He fried up some extra lean ground beef with Frank's Red Hot Sauce, cajun seasoning, and salt and pepper. We also had some jalapenos in the house so he included these on the nachos, creating this delicious nacho pile:
I also made a Shrimp Dip for the weekend from a recipe in my Makkovik cookbook. I combined one cup of mayonnaise with about two cups of grated marble cheese, a sprinkling of onion powder, one tablespoon lemon juice, a few squirts of hot sauce, and two tablespoons of worcestshire sauce. Oh, and a can of baby shrimp, of course. I finished it off by sprinkling some paprika on the top and refridgerated it for a few hours:
On Sunday, I had some leftover ground beef in the fridge from Randy's nachos so I went with a recipe for chili macaroni and cheese in my Emeril 20-40-60 cookbook. This is the same cookbook of my previous posts involving Linguine Alla Carbonara and Chicken Vegetable Soup. The title for this recip is "Better than Mama's Chili Macaroni and Cheese". It calls for:
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 medium onions, cut into small dice
- 2 jalapenos, minced and stemmed
- 2 to 3 teaspoons salt
- 2 pounds extra lean ground beef
- 5 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- One 28 ounce can of whole plum tomatoes, broken with your hands, including the juices
- Two 15 ounce cans kidney beans, drained
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- 1 pound medium sharp cheddar cheese (I just used marble)
- Sour cream, for serving (optional)
*** If I were to make this again, I would definitely half the recipe. I ended up with two BIG casserole dishes worth of it!
I don't have any prep shots because, as Randy can attest to, I made a gigantic mess in the kitchen preparing this. Anyway, on with the directions!
1. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, jalapenos, and 2 teaspoons of the salt. Cook until the onions are soft, about two minutes. Add the ground beef, chili powder, oregano, and garlic and cook, breaking up any clumps of meat with a spoon, for five minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juices, beans, and water. Stir, and bring the chili to a boil. Then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until thickened to chili consistency, about 20 minutes. Taste, and add one more teaspoon of salt if needed.
2. While the chili is simmering, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Boil the macaroni and cook until just tender, about 6 mins. Drain and rinse under cool running water; set aside. Grate the cheddar cheese and set aside.
4. Once the chili has finished cooking, fold in the cooked macaroni and 1/3 of the cheese. Transfer the chili-mac micture to a casserole or baking dish and top with the remaining cheese. Bake until the chili is heated through and the cheese has melted, about 10 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish each portion with a dollop of sour cream.
This is what it came out like:
This was a tasty, different spin on a traditional macaroni and cheese dish and Randy and I both enjoyed it. He took leftovers to work yesterday and today, and I even have two containers full of it in the freezer! The recipe says makes six to eight servings but I think it's way more than that.
Yesterday, I went with a Weight Watchers recipe from my newest Weight Watchers cookbook "Take-Out Tonight". This cookbook offers traditional calorie-laden takeout meals in the form of healthier, home-made do-over's. I picked a recipe from the Italian section for Vegetable Calzones.
For this recipe, you'll need:
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg (I actually forgot this...whoops!)
- 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 3/4 cup part skim ricotta cheese
- 2 plum tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (I used dried)
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1. Combine the water and sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. Combine the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and salt. Add the yeast mixture and egg, and form a smooth ball.
3. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray; put the dough in the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, combine the mozzarella, ricotta, tomatoes, bell pepper, scallions, basil, and pepper in a medium bowl.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray- set aside.
6. Punch down the dough. Sprinkle a work surface lightly with flour. Turn the dough onto the surface and cut into 6 pieces. Knead each piece lightly, then roll each piece into a 6 inch circle. Put 1/6 of the cheese mixture on half of each circle, then brush the edges lightly with water. Fold the dough over the filling - crimp the edges to seal. Transfer the calzones to the baking sheet:
Make three 1-inch slashes on the top of each with a sharp knife. Bake until golden - about 20 minutes.
This makes six servings, which I actually did make, but got Randy to take the picture before I finished making them all. Each calzone is 304 calories and seven grams of fat. I served the calzones with a side spinach salad with mushrooms, the leftover green pepper, and some balsamic vinaigrette dressing:
This is a picture I snapped the other day of my two favorite boys:
Shoutouts from the past few days go to : Peanut Butter M$M's, fresh raspberries, and chocolate easter bunnies
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