Rustic Roasted Root Vegetables

April 16, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

Another healthy favorite in this household is roasted vegetables. You can’t really go wrong with any vegetables your roast, but these are some of our favorites.

Simple, easy, and healthy! You really can’t go wrong, so go forth and roast some veggies!

Ingredients

1-2 Yams or Sweet Potatoes
2 Carrots
2 Parsnips
1 Medium Onion
2 Large Red Potatoes
21 Season Salute (Trader Joe’s)
Kosher Salt
Peper
Garlic Olive Oil (Plain is fine too)

Step 1:

Preheat your oven 425°.

Step 2:

Roughly peel and chop your vegetables and place them on a baking sheet. Mix together.

Step 3:

Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables and using your hands, mix together well. Season with the Season Salute, a little kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper.

Step 4:

Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or vegetables are fork tender. Right before I take them out, we turn on the broiler and leave them for just a couple more minutes to get them nice and crispy.

Crunchy Oven “Fried” Chicken

April 14, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 2 Comments

We used to love fast food, and we ate quite a bit of it especially during the time we graduated high school and graduated college . But as we grew up, and realized that eating fried chicken fingers probably wasn’t the best or healthiest idea and started looking for healthy alternatives.

This recipe is a healthy version of fried chicken fingers, but with less calories and waaaaay more flavor. Yes, it does require more work than going through a drive-thru, but your waist and heart will thank you.

Ingredients

1 package chicken breast “tenders”
1/2 cup goldfish
8 saltine crackers
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
3 eggs
splash of milk
garlic salt
pepper
garlic powder
Olive Oil Spray

Step 1:

Preheat your oven to 375°. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with olive oil spray.

Step 2:

In a food processor or a plastic ziplock bag pulse the saltines and the goldfish until it makes a crumb like texture. Mix with the bread crumbs in a shallow dish.

Step 3:

In a medium bowl, beat eggs, milk, a little garlic powder, salt and pepper together.

Step 4:

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture, and then coat the chicken with the crumbs. For the best results, after you’ve coated the chicken a first time, return to the egg mixture and then back to the crumbs. This will make for extra crunchy chicken! Place on prepared baking sheet.

Step 5:

Baking the chicken for 20 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165°. Let rest for a couple of minutes and then enjoy!

Brunoise Rosemary Chicken Soup

April 7, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

Who doesn’t like chicken soup? It’s comforting, filling, and actually healthy. Well, today we made a chicken soup for your soul and for you OCD-er’s out there. Every thing in this soup is the same size, which makes for even distribution and cooking, the only thing that is different is the textures. Also, it just looks super cool!

This soup was made with leftovers or fridge scraps, so if you have different veggies, THEN FORGET IT, ITS OUR WAY OR THE HIGHWAY! or not. Just use whatever you can brunoise.

Brunoise Chicken Soup

What you need:

cutting board
knife
patience
heavy bottom pot

Ingredients:

chicken
carrots
celery
yukon gold potatoes
onions
garlic
zucchini
chicken broth
rosemary
turmeric
salt and pepper
garlic powder
onion powder

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Place chicken in the on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Put in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove and let cool. Once cooled, cut the chicken to bite sized pieces and set aside.

Step 2:

In a medium sauce pan, warm up the chicken broth with some rosemary and crushed garlic, let it simmer while you cut your vegetables, strain (or pick out) rosemary and garlic before transferring to veggie pot.

Step 3:

Peel carrots and Brunoise them, if you aren’t quite sure or haven’t done it in a while, here’s a quick video to help you, and the environment too, apparently.

Step 4:

Repeat with zucchini, onions, celery, and potatoes.

Step 5:

Heat some olive oil in the pot, and sauté onions and carrots for a few minutes, then add celery and zucchini, these guys don’t need to cook so long. Add salt, pepper to taste, and turmeric to add a beautiful color to the soup.

Step 6:

Add chicken broth to pot and let everybody simmer together for 10 minutes.

Step 7:

Add the chicken (cut same size of the veggies) and potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender. Then EAT!

Note from Christie:

“The broth should smell beautifully rosemary-y and amazing, like you want to wear it as a perfume, which I personally think is a great idea. Imagine the intoxicating smell of a fresh baguette or the handsome aroma of roasted coffee, or the cozy smell of freshly baked cookies?! Okay, okay, I might have a problem but you know what, that’s ok. Me and food are in love, not in like, we are in a committed relationship and we go through ups and downs together.”

Christie’s Quick, Easy, and Healthy Turkey Burger

March 24, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

Like leftover rice, we sometimes buy too much of something. In this case, we were on a ground turkey kick (gobble gobble) and this turkey needed to be cooked. So we made turkey burgers, and they were awesome! We obviously want to share our wonderful recipe with you!

Ingredients

1lb ground turkey
1 half of a red onion
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
worcestershire
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon sprinkle of bread crumbs
salt
pepper
oil (coconut, olive, canola)

Step 1:

Chop the red onion in fine dice and place in a mixing bowl. Add the turkey meat, and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.

Step 2:

Gently mix ground turkey meat, seasoning, mustard, a few sprinkles of worcestershire, and red onions together. Until the meat breaks down. But don’t overwork the meat. That tends to make the meat tough when cooking.

Step 3:

Sprinkle in some breadcrumbs, start with 1 tablespoon. This will help bind the burger together. You don’t want it too moist, or too dry.

Step 4:

Dived the meat into four 4oz patties. Place a saute pan on the stove turn on heat to medium high. Coat the bottom of the pan with the oil of your choice, wait until the pan and oil are hot. Place the patties in the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on the first side. Flip and repeat on the other side until internal temperature reads 165°.

Step 5:

Serve over mixed greens with your favorite dressing (we used a honey mustard dressing…yum) and enjoy!

Zucchini and Onion Rice Bowl

March 23, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 5 Comments

So we all know, that when we order Chinese food, no matter what you order, they always give you a ton of rice. More rice than anyone can eat in one sitting, and today’s recipe utilizes all that extra rice we have sitting in our fridge.

And like most of our recipes, the amount of zucchini, onions and rice is subject to change on how many people you plan on feeding. You can also make this with fresh rice, I did for lunch yesterday and it was delicious!

Ingredients

Left over rice
1 to 2 zucchini’s(sliced to half moons)
1 Onion (sliced)
Soy Sauce
Olive Oil

Step 1:

In a non sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.

Slice the Zucchini into half moons and the onions into slices.

Step 2:

When the oil is hot, add onion and zucchini and a splash of soy sauce. Stir until zucchini and onion soften. Add a couple more dashes of soy sauce to season. You can also add fresh ground pepper to taste.

Step 3:

Just before the zucchini and onions are done cooking, add the rice, and a few more dashes of soy sauce to season the rice. Stir until combined and cover until rice is warmed. Remove from heat, and enjoy!

Beefy Saint Paddy’s Day Guinness Stew (Slow Cooker)

March 17, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY! We hope you’re wearing green and if you’re not, we hope you’re not being pinched!

Today’s recipe is a favorite of ours Slow Cooker Guinness Stew! No pictures today, just this delicious, hearty, beef stew recipe. And it’s super easy to make, if we were Ina we would be saying, “How easy is that?”

Okay, back to the recipe. This one is super easy, and requires almost zero effort. All you do is throw things into a crock pot! How easy is that? 😉

What You Need

1 to 2 pounds stewing beef
2 to 3 russet potatoes (chopped)
1 onion (chopped)
3 carrots (chopped)
3 parsnips (chopped and optional)
3 celery stalks (chopped)
Two 12oz Bottles of Guinness
Beef Broth (About 2 cups, give or take)
Worcestershire
2 bay leaves
1 to 2 sprigs of rosemary
Kosher Salt
Pepper

**First turn on your crock pot to high, and just let it heat until you’re ready to use it.

Step 1:

Cut the potatoes, carrots, parsnips, celery, and onions into large chunks. You really don’t want them too small or else as they cook, they will become mushy! Put chopped veggies off to the side.

Step 2:

Okay, I know we said you throw everything into a crock pot, but this step is totally worth it. You don’t have to do it, but I think you’ll thank us in the end. Season your meat liberally with kosher salt and pepper. In a pan heat some olive oil over medium high heat. When the oil is shimmery, throw the first batch of the meat in and brown on all sides. Remove and place on paper towels, repeat until all the meat is browned.

Step 3:

See? Was that so bad? Easy peasy! Next, add all your chopped veggies into the crock pot, then the meat, bay leaves, and rosemary. Next pour the Guinness in, add a couple splashes of the worcestershire. Pour in the beef stock until everything is covered.

Step 4:

If you plan on cooking this on HIGH, you’ll want to cook it for 4 to 6 hours. If cooking on LOW, you’ll cook for about 10 to 12 hours.

This recipe is great to cook overnight or prep the night before, and leave it while you go to work. As with some dishes like this, it’s always better the next day. But if you can’t wait (don’t worry if you can’t, we have made many of dishes and then ate them straight away) serve over rice, mashed potatoes, or serve with bread.

Another plus to this recipe is you can really add whatever you like. You can add garlic, add more potatoes, less carrots, more celery, don’t like russet potatoes you can add red potatoes and you get the idea. It’s really easy and really versatile.

Happy Cooking!

Chicken, Potatoes, and Tomatoes Oh My!

March 17, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 2 Comments

Today’s dish was inspired by One Pot Spanish Chicken and Potatoes from Pinch of Yum. It was one of those recipes that we made, and EVERYONE loved. And every time we’ve made it since, it becomes more and more popular.

It’s a rather simple dish, and so full of flavor. And did we say it was really easy to make? Because it is! You don’t have to be a whiz in the kitchen to make this, we promise. YOU CAN DO THIS!

For really developed flavors, make the sauce part of the dish first, and the following evening make the chicken and potatoes portion.

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

2-3 tbsp olive oil (more if needed)
1 large sliced yellow onion
4-6 tbsp garlic (or 3 elephant garlic gloves) we love garlic too much
5 vine-ripe tomatos, cut in half and roasted
1 medium to large eggplant or as we prefer Aubergine (skin peeled and diced)
Season salt (We use Lawry’s) and pepper to taste
Smoked paprika
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Cayenne pepper
Approx. 1 cup chicken stock

For the chicken and friends:

1½ lbs. chicken breast meat
Salt and Pepper
1 large Russet potato, sliced
crusty bread or rice for serving

Step 1:

Heat the oven to 400°F. Slice tomatoes in half and toss with some olive oil, enough to coat them, and some salt and pepper. Put tomatoes on a cookie sheet and let it roast in the oven for 40 minutes.

Step 2:

Sauté onion and garlic for about 5 minutes, then add in the eggplant. Continue to sauté until eggplant is melding (getting soft sounds…awkward).

Step 3:

When the tomatoes are done, CAREFULLY move them into the pot open face down or butt side up, however you want to look at it. Let them simmer together for 5 minutes.

Step 4:

Break up the tomatoes and give it a good mix together. Transfer in batches to a blender, please don’t put it all together, you will have a hot explosion of (painfully hot) goodness, and as wonderful as that sounds…it’s not. Add in chicken stock while blending to get your desired consistancy. Add salt and pepper, paprika, onion and garlic powder, cayenne pepper. We like to start with a few shakes of each and adjust to your own liking. This it the point in the cooking where we put the spices into small prep bowls and pretend we’re Emeril, BAM!

Step 5 (optional):

After the sauce has cooled put it into tupperware, and let it get busy with itself overnight. I personally think this sauce is best the next day. But if you need it like RIGHT NOW, please go on to the next step immediately.

Step 6:

Slice the potatoes into discs, I used a mandolin to make sure they were all the same thickness. You can parboil the potatoes for a few minutes if you want, or just put them into the sauce a few minutes before the chicken. (If you gave your sauce “a break” overnight: heat it up in a separate pot first).

Step 7:

Slice your chicken into chunks or bite size pieces. Toss with 1 to 2 tablespoons of the oil of your choosing. We’re fans of olive oil and coconut oil. Once chicken is coated in oil season with salt, pepper and paprika. Remember, you don’t have to use those, those are just what we chose for this dish.

Step 8:

Place frying pan on the stove, and turn the heat to medium high. When the pan is hot, put the chicken in and brown. Once the chicken is brown, transfer to the pot with the sauce. You can also sauté the potatoes in the same pan as the chicken and add them to the pot with the sauce.

Step 9:

Cover the sauce, and simmer until the chicken is cooked. About 10 minutes. Serve over quinoa, rice or serve with a bread to sop up all the saucy goodness. Enjoy!

What’s really great about this dish is how versatile it is. All you do is change out the paprika for any other spice you like, like curry, tikka masala, Garam masala, and you get the idea.

You can also add other kinds of vegetables towards the end of the cooking process. more onions, bell peppers, peas, and you get the idea!

Happy Cooking!

Boozy Bolognese

March 11, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

One thing we really love to cook is Pasta Bolognese. We can’t tell you how many recipes we’ve tried, and even though we’ve made TONS of different versions, we still love finding, cooking, and fine-tuning them just the way we like it.

For this particular recipe, we made it for our close friend Sarah, who can’t eat dairy, or gluten, or basically air, but we still love her. We took out all the dairy and replaced it with wine (Ina approved). I mean, who doesn’t love a good red wine when having Italian? And don’t worry, all the alcohol cooks off, and it leaves this wonderful rich aroma. Trust me, I had some for lunch today, and just the smell had my mouthwatering!

Doesn’t that look good? Not bad for two amateur photographers! And remember as we continue posting, we continue learning and we will be adding photos with steps, as we make the food. But for now, please look at this deliciously scrumptious photo.

Boozy Bolognese

1lb ground beef (80/20 is best)
1lb ground pork or sweet pork sausage
Olive Oil
8oz carrots finely chopped
8oz celery finely chopped
16oz onions finely chopped
2 to 3 tablespoons garlic
1 bottle of red wine (Chianti is always good)
Two 28oz cans tomatoes (San Marzano are best)
2 to 3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 bay leaves
Salt
Pepper

Step 1:

Use about 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil and coat the bottom of a dutch oven or pot. Heat the oil over medium heat till the oil “dances”.

Step 2:

Sauté the onions over medium heat for two to three minutes or until onions are tender and almost translucent. (Variation: you can also add some chopped mushrooms to give it some extra “meatiness”.)

Step 3:

Add the meat and season liberally with salt and pepper. I use a potato masher to break up and evenly distribute the meat on the bottom.

Step 4:

While the meat is browning add the carrots. And stir everything together.

Step 5:

Continue to brown the meat until almost all the pink is gone. Add the celery and then garlic. Once garlic is fragrance, move to the next step.

Step 6:

Next add two cups of red wine, and turn the heat to low and let all the liquid cook off, stirring occasionally. The time varies depending on your oven.

Step 7:

One the liquid is cooked off, add the two cans of tomatoes and two more cups of wine and bring to a boil. Once the sauce starts to boil, lower the heat to low and add the bay leaves.

Step 8:

Let the sauce simmer on low, for three hours and remember to stir occasionally.

Step 9:

Cook a pound of pasta, until al dente and then mix some sauce on those noodles, and EAT IT. You’re welcome.

Well, there it is! Our first official recipe. And it’s not even from Pinterest, just one we made up on the spot! We hope you enjoy our first recipe, and keep a look out for many more to come!

Cultured Swines

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Dinner

Rustic Roasted Root Vegetables

Crunchy Oven “Fried” Chicken

Brunoise Rosemary Chicken Soup

Christie’s Quick, Easy, and Healthy Turkey Burger

Zucchini and Onion Rice Bowl

Beefy Saint Paddy’s Day Guinness Stew (Slow Cooker)

Chicken, Potatoes, and Tomatoes Oh My!

Boozy Bolognese