Frozen Meals Part 2

I didn’t cook last night. We went to Rohrbach’s a German Restaurant/Brewery for an event they hold once a month called Brewtopia. It’s a beer tasting that has a theme. Last night’s theme must have been fruity beers, because that’s mainly what we had. So we tasted beers that had apricot, blueberry, orange, and black cherry flavors to them. We also ate there. I had a Reuben, which is one of my favorite sandwiches of all time. Anthony ordered a German pretzel and a German sausage sandwich (can’t remember which one but it was either: liverwurst, bratwurst, or bauernwurst). Both of our entrée’s were served with German Potato Salad. It’s soooo yummy. It has the right combination of bacon, vinegar, sugar, and potatoes. The food at Rohrbach’s is very good and of course so is their beer.

I tried two more frozen “healthy” meals this week. I’m going to be picking up more at the store this weekend. I figure I’ll try as many as I can and let all of you know which brands I think taste the best and are worth the money. On another note I did eat Spaghetti O’s this week for lunch too and I still love them!! They might not be the healthiest thing for me to eat, but they are just so yummy. I think they are one of my comfort food items. They remind me of my childhood, and I didn’t have a terrible childhood so that’s a good thing! I might just have to buy the one with sliced “franks” this weekend.

The first frozen meal I tried this week was Kashi Lemongrass Coconut Chicken. I was pretty excited to try it since I like other Kashi products a lot. Plus the company is all about healthy, natural products which are things that I find important. Then there was lemongrass. Lemongrass is not an ingredient that I know much about. I’m certain that I’ve had it a few times in my life, but I can’t remember what it was in. Lemongrass is not something I ever really want to taste again. Of course we all know I will have to try it again, since I have the “3 strikes and you’re out rule” to eating food (see my Shrimp and Quinoa post). This meal probably would have been on my list for all time favorite frozen meals, if the lemongrass took a hike to Cambodia. The meal had chicken, broccoli, carrots, sugar snap peas, coconut flakes and red quinoa pilaf. The texture was great and I really enjoyed the quinoa pilaf. The sauce is a lemongrass coconut sauce. They should just admit that it’s only a lemongrass sauce. They should also admit that you will not taste anything other then the lemongrass. And that it so strongly tastes of lemongrass that it has a bit of a bite to it. While eating it I was reminded of Lemon Pledge and my belief that I was eating Lemon Pledge sauce was confirmed when I saw other people on the Kashi website describe it that way. I’m not joking people, this tasted like Lemon Pledge smells and it wasn’t good. I was so very disappointed since I love coconut and was really hoping to get some of the coconut flavor. Never fear Kashi, I will be trying another variety of your frozen entrée’s but I will be avoiding any that include lemon of any sort!

The next meal that I had was Lightlife Indian Veggie Masala. I cheated a bit with this one. I’ve had this entrée before and I like it a lot! Whether it’s actually healthy for me or not (there are a good amount of carbs in it), it feels super healthy. The box says it has three servings of vegetables and one serving of whole grain. That right there is more then I typically eat in a day, so this meal is perfect for me. The Indian Veggie Masala has cauliflower, sweet potatoes, chick peas, tomatoes, peas, onions and brown rice. The sauce has a tomato, ginger, curry taste to it that I just loved. The texture and flavors are really good in this meal. Plus the meal is pretty filling, for mostly just being vegetables. And I feel healthier just for having eaten it today. Will I be trying other varieties of Lightlife? You can bet on it!!

You can’t win them all, so even though the Kashi lunch was not what I had been expecting I’m very grateful that Lightlife knows that a little goes a long way! This blog is getting more and more fun for me to write every week. I’m enjoying trying to cook. I’m super excited about my brand new Anthropologie apron (I’m in love with that store!). I can’t wait to try poaching some eggs tomorrow, let’s hope I succeed! I’m also quite intrigued about going to the grocery store and picking out some more frozen entrees to try. Fun stuff!

Curried Cauliflower Soup

Day 17-Yes, I did finally cook again. But first I would like to talk about our recent invite to a friend’s house for dinner. I had been admiring my friend’s pictures on Facebook of the food he has been cooking every night. The food always looks so much fancier then what I do and rightly so since it is. He uses goat cheese, shitake mushrooms and various ingredients like that. I obviously don’t. He also just throws things together, which I really wish I could do. So I mentioned that he should be writing a blog, since his food looks so much better then mine. Then I suggested that he cook for us, so I can actually try his food. This week he finally invited us over and I was not going to pass up the offer.

I won’t get the name of what he made for us exactly right, but it was along the lines of: Tri Tip Steak with Mashed Red Potatoes (there was some kind of cheese in them), Asparagus, and Shitake, Baby Bella Mushroom, Artichoke Crostini. The mushrooms and artichokes were on this bread from Wegman’s with garlic and other goodness in it. The whole meal was very good! This coming from the girl that only rarely eats beef. I don’t even know if I’ve ever had Tri Tip before. So maybe this is a beef I could actually like! The crostini was so good that I had at least 3 and these were not small. Our friend said that he is starting to write down the recipes for the meals that he makes if they are really good. He wants to open a restaurant some day and he will need to have the recipes available for that. I’ll never open a restaurant, but I sure won’t mind eating at his!

It was time for me to get cooking last night. I really wanted to try the recipe for Curried Cauliflower Soup that I had found on a blog. One, it sounds pretty healthy and two, it has curry in it and that means turmeric! (If you don’t know why I love turmeric so much please look at my post entitled “Curry Pork Sausage Couscous”) Things went pretty smoothly last night. The ingredients needing to be cut for this recipe are one apple (Golden Delicious), 1 head of cauliflower, 1 small onion, 1 clove of garlic. I wasn’t really sure how to chop the apple so I sliced it and then chopped the slices. The cauliflower took awhile since I’m not a fast chopper, but it was easy enough. No problems with the garlic and onion since I use those ingredients a lot, but I’m so tired of all the tears when I chop onions. It’s almost unbearable and then my eyes are stinging from my lotion and mascara dripping into them. Yuck.

The rest of the soup making was a breeze. That’s one of the reasons I love making soup, it’s usually fairly easy. First you heat up 2 tablespoon of olive oil, then you sauté the onions in the heated oil. Once they are soft, you add the apple, garlic, and 1 tablespoon of curry powder (this might be too much if you don’t like spicy foods, so cut that back some) and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the cauliflower and 4 cups of vegetable broth and bring that to a simmer. Once it’s simmering turn down the heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes and then take it off the heat to cool for 20 minutes. Once it’s cool blend the soup in a food processor or blender and stir in 1 teaspoon of honey and 1 teaspoon of rice wine vinegar. Officially you are done after that, but I reheated the soup because Anthony wanted hot soup, not lukewarm soup.

Final Product:

My thoughts: Ah it was okay. It was nothing spectacular. Anthony said it was a boring soup. There was nothing that took it to the next level. I wouldn’t call it bland, since it was too spicy for both of us and we had to add some sour cream to it. Would I bother making it again? Probably not. Trust me I really wanted to love this since it’s healthy, but I would say there was only a mild like. I’m not sure what we could have done to this soup to make it better, but I’m not giving up on ways to add more turmeric to our diet!

Totals: 10 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking time, 1 pot, 1 blender or food processer

Clams

I got a break from cooking and I’m not talking about my vacation. Anthony decided that since he is on break from school he would cook once or twice this week. We had been discussing cooking up some clams. After being down at the beach and smelling all the delicious clams, we had a really big craving for some. I know nothing about clams other then the fact that they live in the sea and they are a quite tasty. Anthony seemed to know what he was doing though. So I went out and bought a bag of clams (50 count of Littlenecks) from Wegman’s. I did price the seafood market and the clams were only 4 cents cheaper, not worth the drive.

Anthony had to run to the dentist before dinner, so he told me to clean the clams if I was so inclined. I figured why not. So I googled how to clean clams and that’s when I started getting a little queasy. I’m not an airhead, dimwit, or idiot as far as I know, but I’ve never really thought about clams. The first information I read was that the clams were supposed to be taken out of the package immediately, so they could breathe. Breathe? Okay let’s just ignore that for now. Before cooking submerge the clams in water with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch (apparently cornstarch helps make them cleaner). Then let them soak for 20 minutes. During this time the clams will breathe and some of the grit from inside the shell will release. Breathe? Moving on.

I filled the sink with water and the cornstarch. I opened the bag of clams and that’s when it really sunk in. These things are alive!!! WHAT?!!! I thought, Okay calm down and breathe chicky. Then I thought, ewwwww…I don’t want to touch them! Of course I did, but I started getting worried that some had already breathed in the bag, since some were slightly opened. I thought maybe those ones had already died and gone bad. I never really thought about the fact that clams are alive when you bring them home. Then another thought hit me, eating these things raw is a sin! How have I been doing that for years?!! I was horribly disgusted. I didn’t even want to touch the inside at all, let alone cut it out and just place it in my mouth. Gross!! Anthony finally arrived home as I was doing this and reassured me that all would be fine and threw the rest of the clams in the sink. BE GENTLE! These things are alive!! (Yes, I really did say that!) I have to say I’ve never been more fascinated by anything in my life. Live creatures in my sink, this was amazing. I stood above the sink, watching and listening to those clams breathe. It was thrilling. I freaked out a little bit when I noticed one clam had a foot out of the shell. Not pretty. I might never eat a raw clam again!

I then carefully scrubbed the grit off of their shells. Then Anthony was ready to grill them up.

I was so gentle with placing them in the sink and scrubbing them, but oddly enough didn’t feel a lick of guilt in killing them. I made salt potatoes with melted butter and Anthony made bruschetta to eat with the clams. He also made white wine butter sauce with smoked paprika and garlic. The sauce was really good. Anthony says he over cooked the clams; they felt a little tough. They were also a little gritty. I guess they didn’t breathe enough or something. Overall the meal was very good. We didn’t eat all of the clams. We each had some and then pulled the meat out of the rest of the shells to save for sauce.

Final Product:

I don’t have any recipes to give you for this post, since I didn’t cook and Anthony doesn’t usually work with recipes. Would I have this meal again? Of course. I love seafood!

Next Up: Last night we were invited to a friend’s house for dinner, I’ll talk about what he made and show you some pictures. Don’t worry I’m cooking tonight: Cauliflower Soup. This could get messy.

Vacation Food

I’m back! My vacation was not as restful as it could have been. We put about 700 miles on the Xterra just traveling around to see everyone in NJ and PA. Ridiculous!! Now my truck isn’t feeling well. I think it needs a break. A parking brake actually. Apparently when the dealer was fixing my rear brakes, they either cut the line for the parking brake or adjusted it wrong. Now it doesn’t work at all, which is not making me happy since I am due for inspection in September. It never ends! Madness! I’m also not paying for them to fix something they screwed up. I’ve got to take a stand!

On to discussing the food enjoyed while on vacation. The first food of the trip was our standard lunch of McDonald’s. I know it’s disgusting, but there is just something SO good about it. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries. That’s just about the only items on the menu that I can eat and not feel sick after eating them. Anthony ordered the McChicken and McDouble. Those are the only items he ever orders. $1 menu all the way! Once in NJ my mom wanted to take us to this really popular pizza place, Pete & Elda’s in Neptune. It was jam packed. Anthony and I figured it had to be good with so many people there. The place did not disappoint. They have an eating challenge. You have to finish a XXLG pizza by yourself and you get a free t-shirt. This pizza is thin crust and when I say thin I mean THIN!! It was super yummy!! Anthony said the crust’s taste reminded him of popcorn. We both ordered XXLG’s but neither of us finished. I only ate half and Anthony ate one piece more then me. I had also ordered (and shared with my mom) mussels in marinara. Mussels Marinara is one of my favorite things to eat in NJ, besides the pizza pie. I’m sure they sell it other places, but I’ve only seen it once in Rochester. Anyway I must say this dinner was delicious!!

The next night we were invited to eat a small cookout at my brother-in-laws house. The cookout included hamburgers, hot dogs, tomato salad, pasta salad, and corn. It was your typical American cook out. The corn smelled very good, but I can’t eat corn unless I want to pay for it later. We also had cold leftover pizza from the night before for lunch and it was still great! My beer choices while away were not the best, MillerLite the first and 2^nd nights. It seemed fitting since it was the only beer I frequently drank while living in NJ.

The following day was a great time. We went to Pt. Pleasant to hang out on the beach and then walk the boards. Awesome! I miss that so much. It was pretty hot that day somewhere in the 90’s. So we didn’t sit on the beach very long, just long enough to get the feel for it again. Then we walked around the boardwalk. Anthony and I just really wanted some clams. I would have preferred them raw (or so I thought, read tomorrow’s post to find out more), but we ended up having them steamed since that’s the only way Anthony would eat them. We ate at Martell’s Tiki Bar. If you are from NJ and frequent the beaches, you know Martell’s. We had a dozen steamed clams for appetizer and then Anthony had a burger and I had a blackened Mahi sandwich. Yum. If I can have seafood over anything else I always will. After going into Jenk’s Funhouse and running around Jenk’s Arcade, we needed a snack. I knew just what I wanted and that was a twist cone from Kohr’s. I got a vanilla and chocolate twist and Anthony got a peanut butter and chocolate twist. Having Kohr’s again really made me miss the beach. That night was another get together with food: roast beef with mushrooms and sauce, ham, pasta salad, potato salad, tomato salad, etc. My drinks were a little bit better this day: Corona, Blue Moon, and Cosmopolitan’s!

Next day we went out for breakfast. I don’t eat eggs straight up, so I ordered 3 pancakes, pork roll, and home fries. Oh pork roll, my how I miss you! There is nothing like it in the world. Everyone needs to try it at least once, because you don't know what you are missing! YUM!! Later this day we went to a picnic at a lake in PA. More standard cook out type foods: hamburgers, sausage, bbq chicken, potato salad, tomatoes, baked beans, corn, etc. My uncle brought salmon he caught in Alaska and smoked it and served it with cream cheese. Seriously good!! Smoked Salmon is the number one way I like to eat salmon. Corona was the drink of choice at this get together.

That’s pretty much the extent of my vacation eating. When we got home Sunday we popped a California Pizza Kitchen frozen White Pizza in the oven. It actually wasn’t too bad. It has spinach, garlic, and a couple of different cheeses on it. The pizza had a lot of flavor for what it was. Then we shared TastyKake Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes for dessert Sunday. We picked up a package before we left Jersey. They really are quite delectable! Overall it was pretty good eating while we were away. The only thing missing was Rita’s Water Ice. There never was an opportunity to stop and get some. I’m very sad. I don’t know when the next chance will be for us to get some Rita’s.

It’s good to be back! I was starting to miss writing this little blog. I’m excited for this weeks upcoming dinner’s: Grilled Clams with Salt Potatoes and Bruschetta (Anthony’s night to cook), Curried Cauliflower Soup, Black Bean Lasagna, Stir-Fried Beef with Orange and Ginger, and a night out at Rohrbach’s for Brewtopia. This should be a good week!

I also bought two new frozen meals to try for lunch. One is a Veggie Masala, I can’t remember what brand it is and one is a Kashi meal with coconut chicken. Someone had recommended I try Organic Bistro and I really want to. I just have to work up the gumption to spend over $6 on a frozen meal. The ideal eats for lunch would be leftovers from dinner, but sometimes I just don’t want to cook THAT much food. Also, not everything I cook tastes good enough, to be eaten again.

Then the other item on the to-do list this week is poaching an egg. I’m really excited to try this, but I think I’ll wait until the weekend. This might take awhile!

Curry Pork Sausage Couscous

Day 16-Okay I will admit that this is a cheat day. We are leaving for vacation on Wednesday and I didn’t want to go shopping or make too much of a mess. So I elected to cook a recipe that I’ve cooked for dinner before. I have never used it for the blog though. That’s why I think it’s okay.

Reality tv update-Spoiler Alert: Top Chef Restaurant Wars was disappointing for me. I was really pulling for the blue team (Kenny, Kevin, Kelly, Amanda) and they lost. Not only did they lose, but Kenny was told to pack his knives and leave. I thought he was going to be there well until the end. I’m still rooting for Kevin or maybe one of the girls. I hope Angelo doesn’t win. He has just bothered me from the start. And what the heck is up with Alex, he needs to go pronto. The Next Food Network Star winner is Aarti. I can’t say I’m shocked. I liked Aarti from the beginning. Partly because she cooks Indian food and as we all know that’s one of my favorite things. I was actually sad that Tom didn’t win, because I really did like his pilot. His was the most entertaining, but I guess Food Network is Aarti’s destiny (I think she mentioned something like that last night).

Last night’s meal was Curry Pork Sausage Couscous, yup more curry! Love it! Last week I read a blog and they posted the health benefits of Turmeric, so I say eat as much as you can! It’s super for you! I always tweak this recipe a little. I used a box of Near East Mediterranean Curry Couscous instead of regular couscous. I love a lot of flavor! Instead of pork sausage I used some poultry sausage I had in the freezer. It really doesn’t matter what sausage or couscous your use, but if you want more flavor use the Mediterranean kind. I put the water on to boil for the couscous with some olive oil and the spice packet, then once the water boiled I stirred in the couscous. Then I covered it and took it off the heat.

Once the couscous is sitting, (although to be honest I started this part while the water was boiling) you put the rest of the ingredients (except parsley) in a skillet and cook them up. So that’s the sausage (I de-cased it and chopped it into pieces), onion, garlic, pistachios, curry powder (I added more then the recipe calls for), and salt. You cook all of that together until the sausage is no longer pink. Then you can either put the couscous in the skillet or dump the sausage mixture into the pan that you cooked the couscous in (that’s what I do). Put that over a medium heat until warm. Viola you are finished! Easy! It was also a good thing that Anthony actually wanted this for dinner, and was pleasantly surprised that I had made it.

By the way, I did try chopping the onion like I had learned and it once again didn’t work out. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. How hard can this be?!

Final Product:

My thoughts, it’s easy and yummy. Plus you get the health benefits of the curry, so eat up!

Totals: 5 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking time, 1 pot, 1 skillet

Well folks it’s been real, but I am officially on vacation from my blog after this post. I will just be cooking hot dogs and beans tonight and a friend of ours is cooking for us Tuesday. Needless to say I will not be cooking Wednesday-Sunday and will back with a new post on Monday. Ciao!