White Beans And Penne Pasta

Yesterday I was going to make this for dinner as it was on my calendar,  but plans got changed and my husband ended up taking our two oldest to a youth group function.  I stayed home with our two youngest and made them chocolate chip pancakes instead!  So today, after ballet rehearsal, we were home the rest of the day as a family, which doesn’t happen very often on Saturdays!  I decided to go ahead and break my rule of no cooking on weekends and make Penne Pasta and home-made blueberry muffins.  The whole house smells wonderful!  I’m not sure what smells the best, the pasta or the muffins.  Maybe it’s a mixture of the two!

Here is the recipe for the pasta:

Ingredients

1Tsp olive oil
1 large onion, cut into wedges
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 cans canned tomatoes, diced
2 cans (14 1/2 oz) chicken broth
2 cans Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 tsp salt
6 oz penne pasta, dry
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp rosemary, dried or 1 tbsp fresh

Notes / Directions

Sauté olive oil, onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes in a large non-stick pan over medium/high heat. I used my electric skillet.  It was the perfect size.
Add tomatoes, broth, beans and salt and simmer 10 minutes.

Stir in the pasta and set timer for 10 minutes. I put a lid on the skillet to cook the noodles.

Mix together the olive oil( 2tbsp) and rosemary in a small microwave safe bowl.

Warm on high for 30 seconds.Put on plates and drizzle the warm olive oil/ rosemary over each serving. Use Parmesan cheese on top.

Here’s the end result of dinner. It was really good!  Enjoy!! (You’ll have to click on the picture to see it.  I’m still learning how to use Instagram!)l

http://instagram.com/p/ZMKi8AsOU7/

Pork Tenderloins

Cooking on the grill!

The finished product. It looks burnt, but the topping is only caramelized.

Hi there!  Hope your day is going well!  It is 60 degrees and rainy here in Michigan on December 4th!  I’m not complaining about it!  I am quite fine with the day!  My day has been completely filled again!  Today is co-op day for the oldest and I am the registrar for it, and today is registration for next semester.  I then got a call for my 12 year old to attend a ballet class today for a couple of hours about 1/2 hour away, piano classes at 1:15-2:15 at my house (have I mentioned that having piano at the house is the BEST thing?) and then pick up my oldest from co-op and drive my 12 year old to her normal ballet class the opposite direction from the other class!  Sometime in there dinner will be made….actually I’m getting ready to pre-make the potatoes and the tenderloin was already pre-made and froze until ready for use!  How convenient!  This recipe for the pork tenderloin is very, very good!  I made it a couple of months ago and ran out, went out and bought another huge tenderloin, and divided it in three and mixed the marinade in the bag and froze them for a later date.  All I do then is take it out of the freezer to thaw the night before and then plop it on the grill to cook!  It is one of my husband and my favorites!

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup Olive Oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 1/2 tsp Brown Sugar
3/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup rosemary, fresh, finely chopped
5 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Pork Tenderloins, 2 1/2 lbs
1/8 tsp salt, to taste

Notes / Directions

Directions:
To make the balsamic-rosemary marinade, in a food processor, combine the vinegar, olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar and pepper and pulse until blended. With the motor running, drop the rosemary and garlic through the feed tube and continue to process until fairly smooth. Place the tenderloins in a nonreactive dish and pour the marinade over them. Cover and let stand at room temperature, turning occasionally, for up to 2 hours.

Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for direct grilling over medium-high heat. Remove the tenderloins from the marinade, reserving the marinade.

Well, my dinner is all made!  I made some glazed baby carrots and everything is ready to be warmed up for my husband when he gets home from work!

Have a great day!

 

Chicken Shawarma

I absolutely love chicken shawarmas!  I love the taste of the chicken that has been slow cooked all day with a marinade and I love the white garlic sauce that you dip the  pita bread in.  We don’t get to go to my favorite Lebanese restaurant very often so I thought, “I can make it myself!”.  So, on to Pinterest I went to look at recipes!  I found a couple and combined them and this is what I came up with:

This is the recipe for the marinated chicken:

2 lg.  chicken breasts
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Combine all together in a zip-lock bag and marinade anywhere from 4-24 hours in the fridge.  After it’s done marinating, you can grill it until cooked through. I used the leftovers from a baked chicken so I didn’t have to cook the chicken.

Mixing the ingredients

All mixed up

For Tahini sauce (to spread on the pita bread)

Sesame seeds-1cup( or use tahini) (Look below for Tahini recipe)
Olive oil-1/4 cup
Garlic(paste) – 2 cloves (Look below for recipe)
Cumin powder- 1/4 tsp
Yogurt– 2tbsp
lemon juice-2 to 3 tsp
Water
Salt to taste

Sesame seeds cooked and cooled and ready to be mixed with the olive oil

Pouring the olive in

:

This is what it looks like after I run it through the food processor

The finished product after I added the other ingredients

Sesame seeds are ready to be baked

Tahini recipe:
Ingredients
2 cups sesame seeds
1/3 cup olive oil, plus more as necessary
Procedures
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place sesame seeds in a rimmed sheet pan and cook until lightly toasted toast, but not browned, about 5 minutes, tossing seeds ever couple of minutes with a spatula. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Sesame seeds cooked and cooling

2)  Place sesame seeds in work bowl of a food processor with olive oil. Process until smooth and paste as consistence slightly thinner than peanut butter, adding more oil if necessary. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator.

Garlic paste:

Mix it all in a food processor.

This is the finished product:

Ingredients

– 2 heads of garlic
– 1 tbs sea salt

– 1 cup olive oil
– 1/2 cup lemon juice

Directions:
1.  separate all the garlic cloves & peel them.
2.  blend the garlic & salt together until it’s a smooth, creamy paste. I used my smaller food processor for this.
3. alternate adding oil & lemon 1 tbs at a time. Add a tbs of olive oil first & then blend until it is completely combined. Then add a tbs of lemon juice & once again blend until completely combined. Once you’re about half way through the lemon   & oil, you can start adding them 3tbs at a time. Once it’s all been added, you want to continue to blend until the mixture starts to thicken & take on a yogurt or mayo like consistency.
4. refrigerate until ready for use

For the shawarma:

The vegetables I cut up

1 English cucumber

1 tomato

Romaine lettuce (cut into strips)

Pita bread

Instructions:

Spread Tahini sauce on pita.  Layer marinated chicken next and then top with vegetables.  Wrap pita up and enjoy!

Adding the Tahini and meat

YUM!

Glazed Baby Carrots

Tonight I made the Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas, which were delicious!  Only one of our four girls did not like them!  Three-quarters of them liked it!!  I made Glazed Baby Carrots with them and they were also a hit!  One hundred percent liked them!

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

1 lb. bag baby carrots
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp orange juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp salt

Notes / Directions

DirectionsPlace all the ingredients in a medium, heavy saucepan.Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are tender and the sauce becomes a shiny glaze, about 15 minutes.

Using an oven mitt or pot holder, remove from the heat and serve.

Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken Breast

Even though this is not what I am having for dinner tonight( I’m actually making potato soup from a kit tonight!), I thought I would share it because it is one of my very favorites!  This is also a good item to make ahead of time and freeze until you need it.  This tastes so good that you will want to make it over and over! Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

2 cups flour
4 tsp salt
3 tbsp ginger
2 tbsp nutmeg
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp sage
2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 eggs
8 tbsp water
2 tbsp olive oil, for sauce
4 cloves garlic, for sauce
1 cup honey, for sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce, for sauce
5 tsp black pepper
4 chicken or pork chops

Notes / Directions

Make an egg wash by whisking together:4 eggs
8 tbsp waterSeason the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then dip the meat in the flour and spice mixture. Dip the breast into the eggwash and then a final time into the flour and spice mix, pressing the mix into the meat to get good contact.

Heat a skillet on the stove with about a half inch of canola oil covering the bottom. You will want to carefully regulate the temperature here so that the chicken does not brown too quickly. The thinness of the breast meat practically guarantees that it will be fully cooked by the time the outside is browned. I find just below medium heat works well. I use a burner setting of about 4 1/2 out of 10 on the dial and fry them gently for about 4 or 5 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy.

Drain on a wire rack for a couple of minutes before dipping the cooked breasts into the Honey Garlic Sauce. Serve with noodles or rice.

Honey Garlic Sauce

In a medium saucepan add

2 tbsp olive oil
3 – 4 cloves minced garlic

Cook over medium heat to soften the garlic but do not let it brown. Add:

1 cup honey
¼ cup soya sauce (low sodium soya sauce is best)
1 tsp ground black pepper

Simmer together for 5-10 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Watch this carefully as it simmers because it can foam up over the pot very easily.

Enjoy!  I know I do!!

Rosemary Focaccia

I made my Crock Pot Lasagna yesterday and the house smelled very good! I tossed a salad and made up a batch of Rosemary Focaccia. Didn’t I make dinner sound easy? Actually, it wasn’t hard at all! I had already made my meat sauce for the lasagna and only needed to thaw it out before it was time to throw it together. I mixed together the cheese ingredients and then layered them together in my crock pot. Quite simple and easy! My daughter took a cooking class over the summer and made this bread that was absolutely delicious! Luckily the teacher gave the recipe out and I got it.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients
1- 3/4 cup water, warm
1 package yeast, active, dry, 2- 1/4 tsp
1 tbsp sugar
5 cups flour
1 tbsp kosher salt, kosher
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp rosemary
1 cup olive oil, divided

Notes / Directions
Combine the warm water , yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Put the bowl in a warm, not hot or cool, place until the yeast is bubbling and aromatic, at least 15 minutes.

In the bowl combine the flour, 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, 1/2 cup of olive oil and the yeast mixture on low speed. Once the dough has come together continue to knead for 5-6 minutes until it becomes smooth and soft. Give it a sprinkle of flour if the dough is really sticky and tacky.

Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly floured surface, then knead it by hand 1 or 2 times. Again, give it another sprinkle of flour if the dough is really sticky and tacky.

Coat the inside of the mixer bowl lightly with olive oil and return the dough to the bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, at least one hour.

Coat a jelly roll pan with the remaking 1/2 cup olive oil.

Put the dough onto the jelly roll pan and begin pressing it out to fit the size of the pan. Turn the dough over to coat the other side with olive oil. Continue to stretch the dough to fit the pan. As you are doing so, spread your fingers out and make wholes all the way through the dough.

Put the dough in the warm place until it has doubled in size, about one hour. While the dough is rising a second time, preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Enjoy!!