Taco Tuesday

#32 - Big's first season of basketball just ended

The little girls maximize our time running errands in the afternoon

Homework in Zeus's playpen

My three enormous humans!

When the girls got home one night recently and asked, "What's for dinner?"  When my reply was, "well, it's Tuesday!"  They yelled "Tacos!!"  Tacos are a go-to in this house (although it's not often actually on a Tuesday) and my usual recipe is ground beef and hard shells.  I've been looking for a shredded beef recipe and this one did not disappoint!  The rub & combination of orange juice and beef broth was delicious.  The last photo above is some of the citrus that the girls picked in our yard and our neighbor's yard so I used fresh squeezed juice.  We all have our own topping preferences so the most "work" involved in taco night is getting out all the toppings and putting them away.  I usually make a big taco salad for myself with black beans & I use the salsa as dressing.  

If you don't have an instant pot, this could go in the crockpot for 8 -10 hours.  I would usually sear the beef first if I wasn't going to pressure cook but it's probably not necessary.

Instant Pot Shredded Beef (serves 6)

from 365days of Slow & Pressure Cooking

1.5 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp cumin

1.25 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1 T olive oil

2-3 lbs beef chuck roast trimmed of excess fat & cut into 4 equal pieces

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup beef broth

1 yellow onion, quartered

4 garlic cloves, minced

In a small bowl, stir together the spices and olive oil to make a paste.  Rub this mixture over the 4 pieces of beef.  Add the orange juice & broth to the pot. Lay the pieces of beef in the liquid and spread the onion slices on top.  Sprinkle the garlic on top.

Make sure the valve is closed and set the manual / pressure cook button to 50 minutes on high pressure.  I used a full natural release but you can move the valve to venting after 15 minutes if you want.

Remove the beef from the pot and shred.  I also fished out the cooked onions and served them as a taco topping.

Instant Pot Minestrone

My kids like chili and I make it pretty often and thought minestrone would be a good alternative to change it up.  Two out of three enjoy it so that's not bad!    I served it on New Year's Eve and had the spinach and pasta on the side for people to add to their bowl and then had toppings of parmesan cheese, parsley, and red chili flakes.

Recipe notes:  I like to make the pasta separately and just stir it in at the end - I think the results are better - but you could also add it to the pot when you add the zucchini.  If you want thinner soup, add more water and if there is a particular thing your people don't like (zucchini, spinach) you can leave it out.  I buy the prechopped mirepoix from Trader Joes so this comes together really quickly.

If you don't want to make this in the Instant Pot, you could do it all on the stove top.  Simmer the soup instead of the pressure cook part for 10-15 minutes and add the beans and zucchini and return to a simmer until the zucchini is cooked.

Minestrone Soup (makes about 8 cups)
Adapted from LifeMadeSweeter blog

1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 large celery stalk, chopped
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp dried thyme
32 ounces diced tomatoes
3 T tomato paste
1 bay leaf
4 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
1 medium zucchini, small dice
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
1-2 cups fresh baby spinach chopped (optional)
1-2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
shredded or grated parmesan cheese (for serving)
fresh parsley, finely chopped (for serving)
1-2 cups cooked (al dente) small shell or macaroni pasta

In the instant pot or a stove top pot, sauce the onions, garlic, carrot and celery for about 3 minutes.  Add the seasonings and tomato paste and saute 30 seconds more.  Dump in the diced tomatoes and broth. Turn your instant pot to pressure cook on high for 2 minutes (make sure valve is set to sealing).  When the time is up, do a quick release.  Then, turn the instant pot to saute.  Add the zucchini and beans and cook for another 10 minutes.  Stir in the spinach (if using) and allow it to wilt (1-2 minutes).  Add more water if you want a thinner soup.  Stir in balsamic vinegar, cooked pasta and serve with parsley and parmesan cheese.

Christmas 2019

From back to school to Christmas. . . that about sums up our fall!  We have had such a fun holiday season and really focused on spending time together with the girls and making family memories.  Here are some recent photos before my new Christmas cookie recipe:

Eggnog Snickerdoodle Cookies

(makes 3 dozen)

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup eggnog

1/2 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl, combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixture, beat the butter for 1-2 minutes.  Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat until smooth and fluffy, about 2-3 more minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg and beat until just combined.  Then add the eggnog and vanilla and mix until smooth.  Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or up to 5 days).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.  In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon.  Form tablespoon sized balls of dough, roll in cinnamon sugar, and place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 8-9 minutes or until edges look done but the tops appear slightly undercooked.  Cookies will firm up as they cool.  Cool on the baking sheet for 5+ minutes before transferring to wire rack.

Summer side dish

It's September!  The kids are back to school and soccer and our summer adventures seem like a distant memory but it's still warm and summer weather here in So Cal.  I tried to make soup the other night for dinner but on a hot evening, it felt sort of weird!  I thought I'd share a summer side dish recipe that I made over the summer months.  It's a healthy recipe (0 WW points) and makes a big batch.  I've been putting it in smaller containers and grabbing it for work lunches now that my beach days are on hold for awhile. 

The recipe is pretty basic - you can add or substitute other beans if there are some you don't like and you could change up the seasoning (lemon juice and italian seasoning?) to make it go better with your main dish of choice.  A couple of tomatoes are nice too but they get mushy when you have leftovers. Sometimes I put it over a bed of lettuce and add some grilled chicken to make a main dish.

Bean & Corn Summer Salad
8+ side dish servings

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups shelled cooked edamame
1 bag of frozen sweet corn, thawed
a handful of chopped cilantro
1/2 small red onion, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1-2 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Stir it all together and refrigerate for half hour or more before serving.  Lasts in the refrigerator for about a week.

Spinach Artichoke Quiche

Thought I should include a photo of my huge children.  It's been fun lately revisiting the early posts when Big was the only child and so, so little. 

This delicious (gluten-free) "quiche" is what we ate with our 2 ingredient bagels for dinner one night.  I topped it with red pepper flakes since my kids weren't eating it with us.  Then, I refrigerated the leftovers and ate them for lunch the rest of the week.

Spinach Artichoke Quiche (serves 6)
from Weight Watchers

1 can artichoke hearts
8 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 T olive oil
1 box frozen spinach (thawed and drained well)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 T dried basil
1/2 T dried oregano
salt and pepper

Grease a pie pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Drain the artichoke hearts and trim them.  Cut them into halves or quarters and spread them on the bottom of the pie pan. 

In a bowl, beat the eggs with the milk, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.  Stir in the spinach and parmesan cheese.  Pour egg mixture into the pie pan.  Top with dollops of ricotta.Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Points:  Varies depending on the cheese and milk.  I used whole milk and part-skim ricotta and the entire quiche was about 18 points so 3/slice.

2 Ingredient Bagels

I've seen this recipe circulating around the internet and the WW app and I was pretty skeptical - how good can a bagel be if it's just yogurt and flour?  When a friend said she had made and liked them, I decided to give them a try.  They were actually really delicious and my kids were eating them instead of the store bought bagels (which was not the plan . . . don't eat my low point snacks!).  I've made 3 or 4 batches and while the dough can be sticky and tough to work with, the end result is worth it. The are best if you eat them in the first couple of days (but in my house they don't last long).

Two Ingredient Bagels

nonfat plain Greek yogurt
self-rising flour
egg (optional)
toppings (optional)

Use equal amounts of yogurt and flour.  If you use 1 cup of each, you'll get 6 normal sized bagels (for WW people, this portion is 3 freestyle points).

Stir together the yogurt and flour.  I have used my dough hook in the Kitchenaid mixer with good results.  You want to knead it until it's smooth (doesn't take too long) or I have used the dough hook on my Kitchenaid stand mixer and mixed until it comes together in a ball.

Lightly flour the counter or a cutting board and divide the dough into equal parts (6 if you used 1 cup of each ingredient), roll it into a rope, and make a circle.  Place them on a baking sheet (I lined mine with Silpat or parchment).  If you want, beat an egg and brush the tops of the bagels with the egg wash.  You can top them with Everything Bagel seasoning from Trader Joes or I've also done a little cinnamon and splenda mixture.

Bake for 18-22 minutes at 375 degrees.  At this point, I turned my oven up to 500 for another couple of minutes to make the tops brown. 

Chicken and Fennel in Rosemary Wine Broth

I'll admit that when I picked this recipe and bought the ingredients, I wasn't super excited about it but it turned out way better than I had hoped for and I can't wait to make it again.  The flavors are delicious together and in my opinion, it's what a super light dinner should be - flavorful and satisfying.  I made rice for my kids but I put fresh arugula on the plate for my portion and spooned the hot chicken over the top which slightly wilted the arugula - the peppery flavor of the arugula went great with the sauteed onions and fennel in the recipe.  I also saved a little rosemary and chopped some fennel fronds for garnish when I plated the chicken.  Quick enough for a weeknight, but good enough that I'd serve it if I was having company over.

Chicken and Fennel in Rosemary Wine Broth (4 servings)

2 fennel bulbs
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 T flour (regular or gluten free)
1 small red onion, chopped
1/4 cup white wine
14 oz chicken broth
2 tsp. minced garlic
arugula, for serving
salt, pepper, olive oil

Slice just the bulb of the fennel into thin pieces.  You should have approximately 3 cups.  Chop the chicken breasts into small chunks.  Put chicken on a plate and sprinkle with 1 T of flour and rosemary and toss to coat.

Heat 1 tsp olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add chicken and cook, turning occasionally, until lightly browned, about 6 minutes.  Chicken will not be fully cooked through at this point.  Transfer to a plate.

In the same skillet, heat 2 tsp olive oil.  Add fennel and onion and saute until lightly browned and almost tender, about 7 minutes.  Add wine and garlic.  Deglaze the pan and simmer until almost all of the wine has evaporated, about 1 minute.  Add the broth, increase heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 1 minute.  Add chicken and cook, stirring often, until chicken is cooked through, about 2 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper and garnish with additional chopped rosemary or chopped fennel fronds.  Serve over arugula.

1 c = 2 freestyle points