Fajita's!

When Alex and I went to the grocery store yesterday we were on a Mexican food kick...you'll see why later in the week. :) Alex scored a pretty sweet flank steak this week and decided to make fajitas with it tonight! Fajitas are so simple and pure yum!

Alex put the flank steak in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 F to 'tenderize it'. Does that work or is he talking silliness? You tell me. Afterwards he grilled it for a couple of minutes on the stove top until there were grill marks. In the mean time he cut up and cooked a white onion, half a red pepper, half an orange pepper, a couple of jalapenos in olive oil along with a lot of love. <--- Alex's words :) He seasoned the peppers with cayenne and cummin...just a pinch or two of each. He cooked them perfectly. They were a little crunchy and a little soft. I hate soft and squishy peppers on fajitas.

Combine the meat and peppers in a tortilla and eat!

I made some yummy guacamole to go with the fajitas! PERFECT!!!

Montreal!

Phew, I'm back! I had to go to Montreal for work this last week. It was a whirlwind trip. I traveled all day Wednesday, arriving in Montreal at Midnight. I was up at 7am to head off to meetings 6 blocks from my hotel. I was in meetings all day Thursday without wireless access so I spent a couple of hours back in my room catching up on what I was missing at the office. I got out for dinner at a local restaurant and snuck into a touristy shop for souvenirs. The next morning I was off to meetings until noon and then ran to the airport to catch a flight back to the US. I had three connections and didn't arrive in Utah until Midnight. DANG! I'm tired!

I had little time to see Montreal, but I LOVED it! I love that everyone speaks fluent French and English. That is so impressive. Each time I head to Canada I HAVE to get anything Maple I can get my hands on. Here are the yummy items I found at the airport...how unique is that? :(

I love this bottle of syrup...it looks like Canadian Whiskey!

These cookies KICK ASS! You can find these cookies online at Maple Grove Farms...of Vermont...What the....?

My best find was this Maple Tea. It is so smooth! It is great with or without sweetener...but never fear...it isn't like drinking straight up Maple Syrup. It is mildly sweet all on it's own. My favorite part is the wood box it comes in! It is so cute!

I feel bad I didn't get to see more of the city...I mean...I feel bad I didn't get to see the city at all! I was so busy I just saw the 6 blocks to and from the office and the restaurant. I NEED to get back and spend some serious tourist time.

Blood, Sweat, but no tears.

Alex is on board with the pumpkin fury going on. We bought a pumpkin this weekend so Alex could make Pumpkin Risotto. WHOOHOO!!! He was so determined to make the pumpkin risotto that he inadvertently cut himself! He was peeling the skin off the pumpkin to cook it up and sliced into his hand. My poor Sweetie!

This really is Alex's post. He took ALL the pictures...but left it up to me to post it. :) He is so funny...look at the way he took the first picture...see our ceramic pumpkin with the Hershey's kiss in the mouth? The pumpkin was hungry.

Pumpkin Risotto:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 (3/4 to 1 pound) pumpkin, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 fresh bay leaves
3 cups vegetable stock, plus 1 cup vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon butter
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Pumpkin Puree:
In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat olive oil and then add the onions. Gently fry until soft and translucent. Add the pumpkin, bay leaves and 1 cup of the vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer and cover. Steam over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Add a tablespoon of remaining stock to the pumpkin base and mash it down into a puree using the back of a wooden spoon or spatula.

Risotto:
In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, heat some olive oil and add the rice. Add the remaining stock and cook for 12 minutes with the lid on until the stock has been absorbed, the rice is al dente, and has a lovely creamy consistency. Add the pumpkin puree into the risotto pan and stir together.

Finally, add freshly grated Parmesan and butter to the pan and stir well. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Serve the risotto on individual plates and spoon the Amarone Wine Sauce over top.

This recipe is a Tyler Florence recipe that includes a recipe for Amarone Sauce...from past experience, DON'T MAKE IT WITH THE AMARONE SAUCE. We made this same pumpkin risotto recipe last year with the amarone sauce and it wasn't too yummy. You can find the whole recipe at Food Network.

This is a GREAT recipe for Pumpkin Risotto. It is a little involved with cooking the pumpkin down, but it is worth the effort.

Orange Chicken

Here's a news flash for some of you...I used to be a vegan. Seriously. I dated this vegan guy for a while and thought I would see what it was all about. I hated to give up my favorite foods so I went out of my way to create vegan meals I loved. I even posted a couple of recipes on a vegan website called vegweb. My favorite was a recipe for General Taos Tofu. It was pretty decent for a vegan recipe.

I wanted something asian this weekend, but not General Taos...fortunately I happened on a recipe for Orange Chicken on Annie's Eats site.

Orange Chicken:
For the marinade and sauce:
1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1 ½” pieces
¾ cup low sodium chicken broth
¾ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 ½ tsp. grated orange zest
8 thin strips orange peel (optional)
6 tbsp. distilled white vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce
½ cup dark brown sugar
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. fresh grated ginger
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. cold water

For coating and frying:
3 large egg whites - I used Egg Replacer
1 cup cornstarch
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
3 cups peanut oil (or canola oil)

For the marinade and sauce, place the chicken in a Ziploc bag; set aside. In a large saucepan, combine the chicken broth, orange juice, zest, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and cayenne pepper; whisk until the sugar is fully dissolved. Measure out ¾ cup of the mixture and pour it into the bag with the chicken; press out as much air as possible and seal the bag, making sure that all pieces are coated with the marinade. Refrigerate 30-60 minutes, but no longer. Bring the remaining mixture in the saucepan to a boil over high heat. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and cold water; whisk the cornstarch mixture into the sauce. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and translucent, about 1 minute. Off the heat, stir in the orange peel (if using); set the sauce aside.

For the coating, place the egg whites in a pie plate and beat with a fork until frothy. In a second pie plate, whisk together the cornstarch, baking soda and cayenne until combined. Drain the chicken in a colander or large mesh strainer; thoroughly pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Place half of the chicken pieces in the egg whites and turn to coat. Transfer the pieces to cornstarch mixture and coat thoroughly. Place the dredged chicken pieces on another plate or a baking sheet. To fry the chicken, heat the oil in an 11- to 12-inch dutch oven or straight sided sauté pan with at least 3 qt. capacity over high heat until the oil reaches 350° on an instant read or deep fry thermometer. Carefully place half of the chicken in the oil; fry to golden brown, about 5 minutes, turning each piece with tongs halfway through cooking. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Return the oil to 350° and repeat with the remaining chicken.

To serve, reheat the sauce over medium heat until simmering, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and gently toss until evenly coated and heated through. Serve immediately.

I realized when I got to the breading part that I didn't have any eggs. CRAP! I didn't want to run to the store so I used the vegan egg replacer I used for my General Tao's tofu. This recipe turned out so much better than my tofu version of General Tao's. It was a better than the orange chicken at Panda Express because it wasn't thickly coated in breading. I also only used a 1/2 cup of canola oil for frying so they didn't soak up all the oil. It was GREAT!

What do you have dessert when you eat yummy Orange Chicken? A fortune cookie! Yep. Alex and I keep a box of fortune cookies around just in case we have yummy asian food.

What did my fortune say?

Pumpkin Muffins!

Remember when I told you I don't follow directions well? Yeah, well it hit again in a BIG way today. I'm going to walk you through my post as my morning happened.

I was looking for a yummy recipe for pumpkin muffins that wasn't full of fat and sugar and it was hard to find a healthy recipe. Fortunately I stumbled up on a recipe by Ellie Kreiger that didn't just limit the sugar and fat, but it added whole wheat flour. SWEET!

The recipe calls for butter milk, which I didn't have, but I saw another recipe while I was looking for pumpkin muffin recipes that said I could substitute plain yogurt for buttermilk. I always have plain yogurt on hand for cooking.

Pumpkin Muffins:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-grain pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsulphered molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk - I used 3/4 cup of yogurt along with a tablespoon of water.
1/4 cup raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds - I omitted these since I haven't gutted a pumpkin lately.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. - I used my mondo large bowl for this and found that I had to transfer the dry ingredients to a medium bowl like the recipe called for.

In a large bowl, (Notice the bowl in this picture...it is the mondo bowl I put the dry ingredients in. Notice what is missing from the ingredients list?) whisk the sugar, molasses, oil and 1 egg until combined. Add the other egg and whisk well. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined. - Now I actual thought...how does one over mix a batter? I'm going to make sure I don't over mix this one because the batter looks so fluffy...I wonder if it is because I used yogurt instead of buttermilk.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. (Now as I was walking the mondo bowl to the sink, I happened to lick the spoon...I know...I'm an adult and really shouldn't do that because of the uncooked eggs and I might get salmonella...but I do it anyway. But the batter didn't taste very sweet. WAIT, what the....I don't remember putting any sugar in this recipe. Could it really be that healthy that Ellie Kreiger didn't put sugar in it? No. I didn't follow the directions very well. RAH!!!!!)

Let's see how well the cooking spray works. I had to spoon the batter back into the mondo bowl, add the sugar and over mix the batter to incorporate the sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.
Fortunately my faux pas didn't screw up my pumpkin muffins. They turned out PERFECT! This is a GREAT recipe for a healthy pumpkin muffin. Ellie knows healthy muffins!

But that wasn't the end of my not following the directions morning. I got my coffee going so it would be ready when I pulled out my yummy pumpkin muffins. I even bought myself some pumpkin creamer to go with my coffee. My coffee maker started making that coffee percolating sound it makes when it has processed all the water through the filter...I grabbed my coffee cup, went to the coffee maker only to see a clear pot of water in the carafe. What the...? Good CRAP! Did I even put a filter in there? Yes, I, did. It's Saturday morning and you wouldn't think I was functioning on a Monday morning. :) I'm worried about what Monday has in store for me.

Hot Damn! I got an award!

I'm so excited I can't stand it! I got a blog award from Meg at Megan's Munchies! WHOOHOO!!!

This really is an honor. I started blogging to have something to look forward to after a long commute to and from work. Blogging started out for my entertainment and I am stoked to have found a community of 'Foodies' to who I totally relate. SWEET!!!!!!

Here are the instructions I was given and are now being passed on:

** Please find at least 10 more blogs, of any kind that you love to read. Write a post about the blogs you picked, linking back to me and to them. Once you’ve posted, return here to let me know your post is done and be sure to let them know too!!! (If you don't come up with 10, that's fine too!)

So now I am turning around and passing it on...per my direction, but since Meg only did four, I'm going to follow the trend. :)

I bestow this award on Annie of Annie's Eats. Annie makes the yummiest recipes. I am still trying to get my hands on the pumpkin kisses so I can make her killer Pumpkin Spice Kiss Chocolate Brownies. She is so creative!

Next I pass this award to Tarts and Calories. This is a fun and unique blog that keeps it healthy with a lot of diversity in dishes. I am always excited to see what she will post next. I was highly impressed by her posting for Pushing Poop which introduces us to a recipe for a veggie burger. She totally cracks me up.

Now on to Two Novice Chefs, One Tiny Kitchen. She uses recipes from Real Simple a lot and I LOVE IT. I stole her recipe for Smoky Chicken Corn Cakes. for one of my posts. It was AWESOME!!!!

Last I send the love to Natasha @ Healthy and Gourmet. I was hooked when I saw the Raspberry Cakes she made a month or two ago. YUM! It was a perfect summer delicacy!

Thanks again, Meg!

Crab Cream Cheese Wontons

Alex says I am the only person he knows that can make a meal out of wine and cheese. It's true. I love to get three or four kinds of cheese, a good bottle of wine and munch on crackers. That is what I do when he goes out of town. Tonight I had a hankering for Crab Cream Cheese Wontons. And yes, I made a meal out of them. :)

I scored a SWEET recipe for Crab Cream Cheese Wontons from a co-worker a couple of years ago and it is my FAVORITE. Unfortunately, it calls to fry up the wontons. I am always looking for ways to make my favorite food (appetizers) healthy and happened to stumble on a blog that suggested baking wontons. For the life of me I can't remember which blog I saw it on so I could give them some love.

I will never fry up wontons EVER again.

Crab Cream Cheese Wontons:

Canned Crab

8 oz. cream cheese

Seeded jalapeno, diced - I used a serrano with seeds...it was SPICY!!!

2 green onions, chopped

Ginger, diced

Heat over to 375 F. Add all ingredients to a medium bowl and stir until combined well. Dollop a teaspoon of crab mix in the center of wonton wrapper.Wet the edges of wonton fold over and seal. I keep a little dish of water handy and dip my finer in the water, outlining the edge of the wonton wrapper.You can push the edges up in the shape of a traditional wonton, or you can make whatever shape you care for. When you leave the edges out, they get nice and crispy in the oven. Brush a little olive oil over the tops of the stuffed wonton wrappers and cook for 8-10 minutes. Serve with Dipping Sauce.

Dipping Sauce:

Small can crushed pineapple

1 teaspoon chili garlic oil

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon minced ginger

Mix all ingredients and simmer until thick.
I HIGHLY recommend using the canned crab you get at Costco, Crowned Price Crab meat. This stuff is the BEST canned crab. They store it in water and it is wrapped up in paper and it really maintains its freshness. I'm not sure what the paper does to keep in the freshness, whatever it is...it works!

These babies ROCKED!!!! I am stoked to have found a healthy way to enjoy one of my favorite appetizers as a main course!