Edamame Salad

I've mentioned a few times about buying a cow.  Here's the (short) story.  A few months ago I started talking to Cindy about her garden, farmer's markets and buying meat in bulk.  I did a little research (aka Ask Mom) and got a price quote from the meat market my family used to own.  It really just made sense, although we were not quite sure how much meat we'd end up with.  We included Rachel & her family in on a portion, so I placed the order.  The day after Lindsey's wedding, we headed to the meat market thinking we were going to get about 300lbs of beef.

Instead, we loaded up 461lbs.  To say I had a panic attack would be putting it mildly.  Thankfully, my super awesome friend Rachel & her parents took a slightly larger portion and we now all have freezers full of beef.

The largest portion of the beef came ground, but we did manage to get a good stack of tenderized round steak.  I'm saving a few packages for Chicken Fried Steak, but I needed to look for something just a little healthier.  Rachel actually came across this recipe, so I added it to the menu for the week.  We both liked it, although Jason admitted that it is a lot of edamame.

Edamame Salad adapted from Cooking Light

• 3 cups shelled edamame
• 2 T low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 T grated peeled ginger
• 1 T light mayonnaise
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 2 t white wine vinegar
• 1 t dark sesame oil
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 1 T olive oil
• about 8-10oz tenderized round steak, cut into 1" pieces
• salt & pepper

Steam the edamame according to the package.  Rinse with cold water, set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the soy sauce with the next 5 ingredients, and whisk until combined.  Add the edamame, tomatoes, cucumber & onion, tossing to coat.

In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over high heat.  Season the steak with salt & pepper and add to the pan.  Cook until crisps, about 5-7 minutes.

Just to note, Wednesday kicked off hurricane season.  Yeah.  I've got 150lbs of beef in my freezer.  Usually hurricane season wouldn't be more than a blip on my radar, but if something comes our way this year, I'm loading up my beef and heading to Camp Nana.  To grille. And eat.

Lesson: How to get your baby to eat his vegetables

Cooper likes most vegetables, but he can be pretty picky.  Like with green beans and broccoli...not going to happen.  He'll take one bite and spit it right back out.

He does, however, have a passion for cheese.  My child has eaten more varieties of cheese in his 14 months than I did the in the first 14 years of my life.  If he sees the package of cheese come out of the fridge, he starts reaching and grunting until I hand it over.

This weekend I bough some fresh broccoli and was looking for something different (but healthy) to do with it.  We usually roast it, tossing the broccoli in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar first.  Or we just steam it topped with a little salt and pepper.  I like it steamed but I wanted something different.  Cue the cheese sauce below.  It is actually a Cooking Light recipe, so score!  I have a love/hate relationship with cheese sauces that start with "stir milk into flour over medium heat."  I usually end up with clumpy flour and non-melted cheese.  This time, though, was a success!  We loved the sauce and it was so easy.

But the best part - Cooper ate his broccoli!  We were hesitant to let him try it, but he was a fan.  Lesson learned.  If you want your baby to eat his vegetables, then cover them in cheese.

The only downside to this recipe is that it makes quite a bit and leftover broccoli isn't that great. 

Broccoli with Cheddar Sauce adapted from Cooking Light

• 1/2 T flour
• 1/2 cup skim milk (I ended up adding a little more than 1/2 a cup)
• 1/4 cup fresh shredded 2% cheddar cheese
• 2 T grated parmesan cheese
• about 1/2 t Dijon mustard
• salt & pepper
• a pinch of ground thyme
• steamed broccoli

Place flour into a sauce pan and gradually stir in milk.  Over medium-high heat, stir until milk is smooth and it begins to bubble and thicken.  Continue to heat for an additional minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from the head and stir in remaining ingredients.  Pour over steamed broccoli.

WW PointsPlus: 2 PP per serving

Christmas Dinner

Which, for us, is really Thanksgiving: Part 2.

I found a turkey recipe years ago in a Southern Living cookbook that works.  The turkey always usually comes out perfect and has a really good flavor.  This year I was feeling ambitious.  I've failed at dressing and mac & cheese before, but I planned on trying again.  Eventually I'll get it right...right?

Cornbread Dressing from Southern Living

• 2 T butter
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 (8-oz.) package sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 recipe Andrew's Cornbread (see below)
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup firmly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 2 T fresh sage, chopped
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth

Melt 2 T butter with oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add mushrooms, celery, and bell pepper, and saute 8 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Crumble the cornbread into a large mixing bowl. Stir in mushroom mixture, half-and-half, and next 6 ingredients. Add chicken broth, and gently stir until moistened. Spoon into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Bake, covered, at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden.

Andrew's Cornbread

• 1 t vegetable oil
• 2 cups self-rising yellow cornmeal
• 2 T sugar
• 1 T self-rising flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 T mayonnaise

Brush a 10-inch cast-iron skillet with oil, and heat in a 425° oven 5 minutes. Stir together cornmeal and next 3 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir in buttermilk, eggs, and mayonnaise, stirring just until blended. Pour batter into hot skillet. Bake at 425° for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and cornbread pulls away from sides of skillet. Remove to a wire rack, and cool 5 minutes.

My notes: I wasn't fond of the cornbread.  The small amount of oil I used was still too much and it caused the crust to do something strange.  Plus, it didn't crumble well...it ended up chunky and...just weird.  I loved the flavor, though, so I think next time I'll use my own cornbread recipe (the one on the bag of cornmeal with a little brown sugar added).

Creamy Four-Cheese Macaroni from Cooking Light

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 2/3 cups skim milk
• 3/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 ounces light processed cheese (Velveeta) 
• 6 cups cooked elbow macaroni (about 3 cups uncooked)
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1 T butter or stick margarine, softened

Preheat oven to 375°. Place flour in a large saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick (about 8-10 minutes), stirring constantly. Add cheeses and cook 3 minutes or until cheese melts, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in macaroni and salt. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Combine bread crumbs and butter in a small bowl; stir until well-blended. Sprinkle over macaroni mixture. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Bacon Wrapped Green Beans

• fresh green beans, trimmed
• bacon
• brown sugar
• butter

The amount of beans needed will depend on how many people you plan to feed.  For 5 adults, I did about 1lb.  Cook green beans - either steam or boil - just until done. Remove from heat and drop into ice water to stop the cooking process.  Wrap 8-10 beans with one piece of bacon, secure with a toothpick.  Melt about 1/2 cup of brown sugar with 1/2 stick of butter (depending on how many you're cooking).  We tossed these on the grill to cook the bacon, but that might not have been the best idea since I looked outside to see flames.  I ended up putting them in a dish and finishing them in the oven after I brushed the butter & brown sugar on them.  A better idea would actually be to brush them with the butter mixture first and cook them in the oven at about 400 for 20 minutes, or until the bacon is done.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

I've made a butternut squash soup before that is pretty good, but this one was much easier!  And it had a different taste to it. 

Curried Butternut Squash Soup from Weight Watchers

• 3lbs butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
• 2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
• 29 oz chicken broth
• 1 1/2 t curry powder
• salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425.  Place squash, onion & broth in a large dish and bake for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Remove from oven and let cool about 15 minutes. 

In a small skillet, toast the curry powder over medium heat until fragrant, about 15 minutes.  Add the curry powder, salt & pepper to the veggies and puree.  I used an immersion blender to puree the vegetables, but you can also use a food processor or a blender.

We served this over light 4 cheese ravioli (Cooper was a fan!) with a salad.  You can also add a little sour cream and green onion.

WW Points: 3 (without ravioli) for 3/4 cup soup and 2 t fat free sour cream

Grilled Artichokes

If you'd asked me 5 years ago if I liked artichokes I would have probably said no.  Or something more like "Ew."  Since then, I've had artichoke hearts a few times on pizza and in pasta...to thankfully realize that I do like artichokes.  And last spring when we took a trip to San Francisco we took a risk and ordered an appetizer of grilled artichokes.  Jason and both liked it and since then I've bought artichokes a few times to grill ourselves.  They're usually pretty expensive, so I wait until they go on sale for $1 each.  They can also be a little intimidating, but with a little help from Google, I figured out how to cook them properly.

Grilled Artichokes from myrecipes.com

2 artichokes
1 lemon
Olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Plunge the artichokes in cold water repeatedly to clean them.  Trim the stem and cut about 1" off of the top of the artichoke.  Slice off the bottom loose layer of leaves.  Using kitchen shears, trim about 1/4" off of the top of the remaining outer leaves.  Slice the artichokes in half.

Slice the lemon and drop into a pot of water to boil.  Using a steamer basket, steam the artichokes for 15-20 minutes, until the stem is tender.  Remove from the basket and let the cool slightly.  Use a spoon to remove the "choke."  Brush with olive oil and season with salt & pepper before grilling them.  Grill for 5-7 min on medium heat.

Garlic Lemon Mayo adapted from myrecipes.com

1/2 cup mayo

Lemon zest

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 clove garlic, pressed

crushed red pepper, to taste

Combine all of the ingredients and chill for 15-20 minutes before serving with the artichokes.