How long should items stay in the fridge?

This is a side-note on food safety. I bought ground beef on Saturday (at an AWESOME sale price!!!) with the intention of making chili on Monday. That would have been fine and dandy, but things got really busy on Monday and Tuesday and I decided to make the chili on Wednesday… but by then it was too late. I went online to find out if it was safe to eat, considering I had left it in the fridge for almost 5 days. The sad answer: No. Ground beef should not be in the fridge for more than 2 days.

So here is the table from a great website I found on food safety. Hopefully you’ll learn from my mishap.

Original site: Food Safety website

Storage Times for the Refrigerator and Freezer

These short but safe time limits for home-refrigerated foods will keep them from spoiling or becoming dangerous to eat. The guidelines for freezer storage are for quality only. Frozen foods remain safe indefinitely.

Category	Food	Refrigerator (40 °F or below)	Freezer (0 °F or below)
Salads	Egg, chicken, ham, tuna & macaroni salads	3 to 5 days	Does not freeze well
Hot dogs	opened package	1 week	1 to 2 months
	unopened package	2 weeks	1 to 2 months
Luncheon meat	opened package or deli sliced	3 to 5 days	1 to 2 months
	unopened package	2 weeks	1 to 2 months
Bacon & Sausage	Bacon	7 days	1 month
	Sausage, raw — from chicken, turkey, pork, beef	1 to 2 days	1 to 2 months
Hamburger & Other Ground Meats	Hamburger, ground beef, turkey, veal, pork, lamb, & mixtures of them	1 to 2 days	3 to 4 months
Fresh Beef, Veal, Lamb & Pork	Steaks	3 to 5 days	6 to 12 months
	Chops	3 to 5 days	4 to 6 months
	Roasts	3 to 5 days	4 to 12 months
Fresh Poultry	Chicken or turkey, whole	1 to 2 days	1 year
	Chicken or turkey, pieces	1 to 2 days	9 months
Soups & Stews	Vegetable or meat added	3 to 4 days	2 to 3 months
Leftovers	Cooked meat or poultry	3 to 4 days	2 to 6 months
	Chicken nuggets or patties	3 to 4 days	1 to 3 months
	Pizza	3 to 4 days	1 to 2 months

Click here to see the Egg Storage Safety chart

ina

*** Mac and Cheese

Rating: AMAZING! MAKE IT AGAIN!

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I found this recipe by googling for easy mac and cheese recipes. The purpose was to take it to a work pot luck, and I really didn’t want to break the bank to feed others when I’m here pinching pennies to feed myself on a daily basis. So I got some elbows (on sale), cheese, evaporated milk, and got down to business!

I’m DELIGHTED to report that my Mac and Cheese was a huge HIT! I even overheard people at the pot luck saying how good it was 🙂 (somehow it’s more satisfying to hear it said behind my back than to my face) 😉 It was so easy to make following this recipe, that I would do it again! Maybe I would even consider changing some ingredients around to make it a more low-calorie meal, but it was so good the way it was that I’d be afraid to mess with quality!

Traditional Macaroni and Cheese
Allrecipes.com: Traditional Macaroni and Cheese by Nestle® Carnation®
My comments in blue

Timing
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Ready in: 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups dry, small elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard – I left out the mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can NESTLE® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk – I used a generic brand
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided – I got the kind that comes in a 2-cup bag, generic brand. Perfect size, perfect price.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 2-quart casserole dish.
2. Combine cornstarch, salt, mustard and pepper in medium saucepan. Stir in evaporated milk, water, and butter. Cook over medium-heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil.
3. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
4. Stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted.
5. Add macaroni; mix well.
6. Pour into prepared casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and light brown. – I baked for 19 minutes, and it was brown all over the top





Footnotes

• NOTE: To transform Macaroni & Cheese from a simple dish to a savory one-dish meal, add 1 cup chopped ham or hot dogs after milk mixture comes to a boil.

The aftermath…

Big Hit!!!!

Enjoy!

ina

** Easy Chicken Quesadillas

Rating: Nothing to write home about

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I found this recipe by typing in “chicken breast” and “tortillas” in the search field in the website SuperCook. This is one of those websites where you just type in the ingredients you have at home, and it comes up with the list of recipes for you!

Easy Chicken Quesadillas
Foodgeeks.com: Easy Chicken Quesadillas by studymom_2000
My comments in blue

Timing
Prep time: 45 minutes – More like 30 min: 15min to defrost the chicken, the other 15 to dice it up
Active Cooking Time: 15 minutes – More like 30 min: cook the chicken, slice the cheese, set up the tortillas and cheese
Walk-away time: 15 minutes – the time the quesadillas spend in the oven

Ingredients

• 8 oz. cheddar cheese, sliced – I used something like 5 oz of yellow extra sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 lg. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced – I only used 2, but they were pretty large
• 1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
• 1 cup water
• 6 lg. flour tortillas I made 2 quesadillas, so that’s only 4 tortillas – I used whole wheat tortillas

Directions

1. Dissolve taco seasoning in water in large skillet.
2. Add chicken breasts and cook until chicken is thouroughly cooked; drain.



3. Layer cheese slices on 3 tortillas (I use a pizza pan).
4. Next, put 1/3 of chicken on each tortilla.
5. Top with another layer of cheese and remaining tortillas.



6. Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes, until cheese is melted.
7. Cut into quarters and serve with sour cream and/or guacamole.

Final review: these turned out pretty well, and I might make them again, but not for dinner. Maybe as a party appetizer or something. The truth is that it was way too much cheese for dinner.

ina

Brian’s Corner: Burgers Burgers Burgers

Sometimes being a picky eater has more to do with convenience than actual reluctance to try new things. Brian usually defaults to take-out cheeseburgers when there’s no dinner planned.

The best solution is to make turkey burger patties and keep them (raw) in the freezer. Just remember to put them in the fridge the night before, and they’ll be ready to cook the next evening! Do the same with the burger rolls.

Brian loved the turkey burgers! Must add that to his very very limited menu!

ina

*** Turkey Cheeseburgers

Rating: AMAZING! MAKE IT AGAIN!

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Hello everyone, did you miss me??? Yeah, I missed me, too. Now that I’m spending more time at home, there are more opportunities to cook, so I would like to start the festivities with AWESOME AWESOME turkey cheeseburgers.

Turkey Cheeseburgers
AllRecipes.com: Actually Delicious Turkey Burgers
My comments in blue

Makes 12 patties – The way I did it, it made 6.

Timing
Prep time: 15 minutes – If you can chop onions in 5 minutes, you can reduce this prep time by 10min!
Active Cooking time: 15 min – Mixing everything and making the patties took only 10 min
Walk-away time: 30 minutes – I would say the patties were ready in 20 min, but I didn’t measure it. If you make them thinner, they’ll take less time.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds ground turkey – I’m only cooking for 2, so I bought only 1 pound, however I left the same proportions of everything else, and they turned out DELICIOUS, so I suggest to leave everything else as is.
• 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely diced onion
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley – I used about 1/8 cup of dried parsley leaves
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced – I used about 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix ground turkey, seasoned bread crumbs, onion, egg whites, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. Form into 12 patties.
   12 is a bit ambitious… with a regular pack of ground turkey I was able to make 6 patties comfortably.



2. Cook the patties in a medium skillet over medium heat, turning once, to an internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C).
   I didn’t measure the temperature, I just waited for the patties to be completely dry both sides, and then added American cheese on top.

I also made some french fries. Ingredients: 1 potato, Directions: peel, slice in french fries shape, fry in hot oil. Take out when they look french fry-ee.

I ended up having one delicious and gorgeous burger. I put pink sauce (mayo and ketchup) and fries on the burger, but you can dress it as you’d like 🙂

ina

Flat Belly Diet – Jumpstart Day 3

I thought Day 3 started out alright, although my hours were getting a bit wacky. I kept reminding myself that the reason they want you to eat every 4 hours is because they don’t want you to feel like you’re starving, so if I delayed my meals and I starved it was really self-inflicted, and not because “I’m on a diet.” So basically, I was getting away with it by blaming myself. Yeah.

Jumpstart – Day 3
Source: Vaccariello, Liz. Flat Belly Diet, Pocket Guide. New York, NY: Rodale, Inc, 2009.
My comments in blue

Breakfast (8:30am)

• 1 cup unsweetened corn flakes + 1 cup fat-free milk
• 1/2 cup roasted or raw unsalted sunflower seeds
  I’ve been eating these throughout the day instead of as “part of breakfast” — I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened raisins
  No can do. Pineapple bits it is.
• Glass of Sassy Water
  Fresh new pot made yesterday afternoon. I can’t wait to stop drinking this stuff.

Due to some scheduling considerations for tomorrow, I had to swap some menus around. This is the lunch menu for Day 4, but I had it today:

Lunch (1:45pm)

• 3 ounces chunk light tuna in water, drained
  First off, Today’s wasn’t as bad as yesterday’s. I mixed it with all the grape tomatoes (which I cut into 3 pieces each — yeah, took a while), and then added bits of the string cheese. It was just a big medley that filled a plate… it was kind of tasty, but I couldn’t get my eyes off the french fries and fried chicken a coworker was devouring in the break room next to me.
• 1 pint fresh grape tomatoes
• 1 low-fat string cheese
  Only used about half of it
• Glass of Sassy Water

Snack (3:45pm)

• Blueberry Smoothie: Blend 1 cup of fat-free milk and 1 cup frozen unsweetneed blueberries in a blender for 1 minute. Transfer to a class and stir in 1 tablespoon cold-pressed organic flaxseed oil or serve with 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds, without the shell
  Not a fan. Sorry. I had pineapple bits instead.

Dinner (8:00pm)

• 4 ounces grilled tilapia, drizzled with 1 teaspoon olive oil
  
• 1 cup cremini mushrooms, sautéed in cooking spray, if desired
  Left overs from yesterday! Ready to cook! And then…. hot oil splashed into my EYE. BULLS EYE!!! I ended up in the emergency room (after having my delicious dinner, of course) and in excruciating pain the rest of the weekend. NOT COOL.
• 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
  Left overs from yesterday! Microwave and done!
• Glass of Sassy Water
  

End of Day 3. Trip to the ER aside, I stuck to the diet and did great!

Day 4: I was in so much pain from my eye mishap, that I forced myself to sleep until 12:30pm. Then I went to a couple of holiday parties and had a few appetizers. That’s when I said: screw this. No more. There will be no Day 4.

Conclusion of the diet: I’ve spent way too much money on this, way too much time thinking about food, and I’ve been eating some foul stuff. I’ll just count my calories like everybody else in the world. RIP Flat Belly Diet. You were not for me.

ina

Flat Belly Diet – Jumpstart Day 2

Day 2 started the same way as Day 1: Woke up at 4:30am, train by 5:30, you get the drift.

Made it to my desk at 8am after my meetings, and proceeded to make my Day 2 menu:

Jumpstart – Day 2
Source: Vaccariello, Liz. Flat Belly Diet, Pocket Guide. New York, NY: Rodale, Inc, 2009.
My comments in blue

Breakfast (8am)

• 1 packet instant Cream of Wheat + 1 cup fat-free milk
  Packet? What do they mean packet? The kind I bought comes all in one box! So I measured 3 tbsp last night and brought them in in a zip lock bag this morning to mix with the milk I left at work. This was my first time having cream of wheat, so I had to ask my coworkers whether it looked done or not 🙂 I brought along some cinnamon (one of the approved spices) to give it some flavor, only to realize I had really brought cinnamon SUGAR! So I just sprinkled a tiny bit on top (you won’t tell on me, will ya?). It was not unbearable… but I did eat it quickly so I could forget I ever had that mush as fast as possible.
• 1/4 cup roasted or raw unsalted sunflower seeds
  Like I said: by the handfuls. Chew quickly. Swallow.
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened raisins
  I hate raisins. I raised my substitute flag and looked it up in the back of the book. Bits of pineapple did the trick. Just a few, though. Don’t want to exceed my calorie limit.
• Glass of Sassy Water
  Confession: in my rush to go home after work yesterday, I didn’t have time to prepare a new pitcher… I just filled with water the pitcher from yesterday. The drink tastes extra citrus-y today (gulp).

Lunch (1:45pm)

• 3 ounces chunk light tuna in water, drained
  I couldn’t get out of my 12 o’clock meeting… by the time I could get my hands on some food I was STARVING!!!!! The tuna was surprisingly dry… don’t know why…
• 1 cup steamed baby carrots
  I put some finger carrots in the microwave for like 7 minutes (with a couple of breaks in between), so they are soft. I like them that way.
• 1 low-fat string cheese
  Again, the highlight of my meal, and I figured out why: it has a billion grams of saturated fatty goodness. Couldn’t finish it all, though… felt too guilty after finding out the % saturated fat and cholesterol. Only had half of a stick.
• Glass of Sassy Water

Lunch

Snack

• Pineapple Smoothie: Blend 1 cup fat-free milk, 4 ounces canned pineapple tidbits in juice, and a handful of ice in a blender for 1 minute. Transfer to a glass and stir in 1 tablespoon cold-pressed organic flaxseed oil or serve with 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds, without the shell
  Didn’t have the time or inclination to make this… forget it. Skipped.

Dinner (8:00pm)

• 3 ounce grilled chicken breast, drizzled with 1 teaspoon olive oil
  3 ounces of chicken breast are 1/2 of a single breast. I cut it transversally so I could get two equal parts, 3 ounces each. I put it in a sauce pan at medium heat, added 1 teaspoon of olive oil, and some rosemary on top (approved spice). Once the chicken was ready on both sides, I added the mushrooms to sautée alongside. No cooking spray added.
• 1 cup cremini mushrooms, sautéed in cooking spray, if desired
  I washed them first, then sliced them and put about a cup to sautée with the chicken. Because mushrooms are moist on their own, there is no need for cooking spray here.
• 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
  I make rice in a non-conventional way: I put about 1-2 teaspoons of oil at the bottom of a pot and turn the stovetop on at medium-high heat. Once the oil is warmed up, I add the rice (dry). I mix the oil and the dry rice thoroughly, and then add twice as much water as I added rice (1 cup of dry rice, 2 cups of water). At this point I usually add garlic powder and salt, but for this recipe I added basil only (approved spice), stir it in. I let it boil, stirring sometimes, until I can see the rice peep through the water along the surface. At that point, I lower the heat and let it simmer until all the water is gone. My rice was delicious.
• Glass of Sassy Water
  Sorry, I didn’t feel like having it for dinner. Skipped. Just drank water.

I very much enjoyed this dinner. If I were rating meals, this dinner would get 3 out of 3 stars!

Dinner

For those of you who by Day 2 were dying to have a pizza… you are not alone. Hang in there! We’re doing great!

ina

Flat Belly Diet – Jumpstart Day 1

So I started a new diet. I’ll split the chronicle between my normal blog (feelings and thoughts, as always), and this blog (for details on the diet).

Ok, back to business:

The first 4 days of the diet are a strict “jumpstart” diet that is supposed to reduce bloating in general. To see more information about this diet, please read this post: New Diet: Flat Belly Diet.

Here’s how Day 1 went:

Woke up at 4:30am, scrambled to get a few kitchen utensils together to take to work (including a food processor in lieu of a blender, a grater, measuring spoons), caught the 5:30am train, attended a 6:45am meeting, went shopping at 8am (didn’t have time last night, and I was going to be damned if I was going to let that small fact deter me from starting this diet today!). Made it to work by 8:30am, unpacked groceries at work (which took 20 min) and had breakfast.

Jumpstart – Day 1
Source: Vaccariello, Liz. Flat Belly Diet, Pocket Guide. New York, NY: Rodale, Inc, 2009.
My comments in blue

Breakfast (9am)

• 1 cup unsweetened corn flakes + 1 cup fat-free milk
  This was bearable. It had no taste whatsoever… it was like eating slightly wet thin flakes of cardboard
• 1/4 cup roasted or raw unsalted sunflower seeds
  The sunflower seeds I got are raw, outside the shell, unsalted. It took some getting used to these things, but as long as I had them by the handfuls, my mouth was too distracted chewing to notice the bland taste.
• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) unsweetened applesauce
  I thought this would be like a Gerber dinner, but it was grainy… awful texture. I had huge spoonfulls and worked through them as fast as I could!
• Glass of Sassy Water
  I have to admit the water wasn’t THAT bad. I’m not a cucumber person (or a lemon-in-your-water person), but I did not find it completely offensive.

Lunch (1:30pm)

• 4 ounces deli turkey
  The recipe calls for organic, low sodium, roasted turkey. If you found it, more power to ya, but Whole Foods only had either full-sodium organic smoked packaged turkey, or non-organic low-sodium roasted turkey. I figured, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. I got the non-organic kind behind the deli counter. I have to say, I’ll be buying the organic packaged kind in the future… the deli counter type was so dry, it was really hard to swallow.
• 1 pint fresh grape tomatoes
  So, I went shopping this morning, but totally forgot these. So I went to our cafeteria and spent $4 on approximately 2 cups of grape tomatoes. Yikes. These were alright… although they don’t taste as good without salt 😦
• 1 low-fat string cheese
  The highlight of the meal. A much needed dosage of salty goodness. I couldn’t find low-fat cheese, so I got the part-skim mozzarella.
• Glass of Sassy Water

Lunch

Snack (5:30pm)

• Blueberry Smoothie: Blend 1 cup of fat-free milk and 1 cup frozen unsweetneed blueberries in a blender for 1 minute. Transfer to a class and stir in 1 tablespoon cold-pressed organic flaxseed oil or serve with 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds, without the shell
  We don’t have a blender at work, but by 4pm I was so exhausted, I decided to run home and make my smoothie there. It was… interesting. I didn’t use flaxseed oil because I couldn’t find it, so I vowed to have the sunflower seeds… which I forgot to eat in the end (oops). As for the drink, I just drank it through a straw until I reached a really foamy end… that’s where I drew the line.

Blueberry Smoothie

Dinner (9:30pm)

• 4 ounces grilled tilapia, drizzled with 1 teaspoon olive oil
  So it was my husband’s birthday the day that I started the diet, and we went to his mother’s for dinner. I used every tool I had in my box to keep up the strength to not have the delicious pasta dish with meatball and sausage sauce she had made… but I did it! I said Thanks but No Thanks and had nothing to eat. We got home at 9:30, and I was at the brink of a narcoleptic episode, so there was no way in heck I was going to be making all this food for myself for dinner. So, I just made the fish. I added a sprinkle of basil (one of the approved spices), and it was done in 5 minutes. It was delicious!
• 1 cup steamed green beans
  Nope.
• 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
  Nope.
• Glass of Sassy Water
  Nope.

Overall, I’d say Day 1 was alright. Not a complete success, since I was not able to follow it to the letter… but good enough, don’t you think?

ina

*** EZ Fajitas

Rating: AMAZING! MAKE IT AGAIN!

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What’s so amazing about this recipe is that (1) it’s healthy, and (2) it literally took 5 minutes to make. It was unbelievably fast.

I can’t take credit for such a simple recipe, but I did not take it from a book.

Ingredients

• 1/2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Whole wheat tortillas
• 1/3 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/3 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 of a chicken breast, cut in 8-12 smaller pieces (cooked previously — from left overs)
• Onions, chopped
• White extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (could be any cheese you like, that’s just the one I had handy)

Directions

1. Heat up a frying pan in medium heat.
2. Add the oil, wait for it to heat the pan
3. Add the onions, red and green peppers. You should hear a delicious sizzling sound
4. Shuffle it around, so it doesn’t burn all on one side
5. After a couple of minutes, add the chicken
   

   Sautee veggies and chicken

6. Let it all warm up for 3 more minutes, and add the cheese
   

   Add the cheese

7. Once the cheese is lightly melted (a few seconds later), split the portion into 2 and put on 2 separate tortillas
8. Roll up and enjoy!
   

   Instant Fajitas!

This was SO quick and delicious, that it has become my new favorite fast meal.

ina

Brian’s Corner: Bologna

If you have a picky eater at home, it’s always good, and cheaper, to have some standard foods on hand for a quick dinner. Brian likes bologna in rolls.

ina

Edit 3/22/2011: Brian no longer likes bologna… it bothers his stomach. Picky eaters, huh?

** Arepas with Cheese

Rating: Nothing to write home about

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This recipe is a standard staple. It wouldn’t be fair to take credit for it, but it didn’t come from a book.

Arepas are a typical Venezuelan dish. You can have them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They are quite versatile 😉

I have made arepas many many times before… but they never turn out the way our maid used to make them at home. That is the main reason why this way to make arepas gets only 2 stars: it’s just not home-quality. They are still great for a quick dinner or a hearty breakfast, but they are not the best arepas you will ever have.

Tools

I do not make arepas the “regular way” (which would be putting the dough in shape in water until it boils and the dough floats to the top, and then grilling on the stove top until hardened on the outside), I make them with a nifty appliance made by Oster called Tostiarepa. Mine is a small one, with capacity to make only 2 at a time:

Oster's Tostiarepa

Ingredients

• Salt
• Water
• Cooking spray
• Gouda cheese, shredded
• White corn flour. You can get the real stuff, Harina PAN, from Latin American grocery shops. Sometimes even regular grocery stores, like Stop & Shop, carry it.

Harina PAN

Directions

1. Eyeball enough flour in a bowl to be enough for 1 or 2 or more arepas.
2. Add salt (a few shakes)
3. Add water. Add some little by little as you knead the dough until it is malleable.
4. Make into a ball
5. Spray some cooking spray on the top and bottom side of the tostiarepa, and plug it in
6. Put the dough ball on the side where you sprayed, and shut the cover
7. Wait 7 minutes
8. Unplug the tostiarepa
9. Take the arepa out, and cut it open
10. Spread some butter on both inner-sides of the arepa, and put the shredded gouda in it
11. Enjoy!

I have a confession to make: I did not use gouda, I used extra-sharp white cheddar. It was just as good, but PLEASE do gouda instead. It’s just the best cheese for arepas.

ina

Arepa with Cheese

Brian’s Corner: The Wonders of Pizza

My husband Brian has wisdom to share with the world today. These are his words:

No Lunch + No Sleep = Awesome Pizza

I wish this wasn’t his lesson to the world today, but it is. We stayed up in turns around the clock last night so we could keep the water levels in check (rains came back and our basement continued to flood), so the poor man didn’t have breakfast (we had no milk for cereal), he had just a couple of toast for lunch, and then came home from work to an empty house (while I was out at school) and satisfied his hunger with pizza.

Sadly for us all, pizza is fast and convenient. That’s a dangerous combination for a tired and hungry person. Beware, my friends… beware.

ina

* Pork Fried Rice

Rating: Never make it again

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This recipe is from the book Robin Miller’s Quick Fix Meals.

I have to say that the idea of making pork fried rice was more exciting than the end product itself. You’ll see why in the blue notes, but I would probably not make this again until I figure out what went wrong. I think it was way too much hoisin sauce, and I probably didn’t have the right rice. The recipe calls for quick-cooking white rice… but I have no idea what that means! I have white rice… but it didn’t cook through very well, I don’t think. It definitely could have been better. Maybe I would have used soy sauce instead of hoisin sauce. I’m not really an expert in pork fried rice…

Anyways, it took me about an hour to make it, including prep time, which is not really that bad… but I prefer 30-min meals.

Lastly, my choice of dessert was AWFUL. I made an impulse buy while getting milk at the supermarket today: Yoplait Lite Apple Turnover yogurt. First of all: it was completely white with little chunks (which I hope were apple). It was NOT appetizing at all. I do not recommend it.

Pork Fried Rice

Pork Fried Rice
Quick Fix Meals by Robin Miller
My comments in blue

Serves 4

Timing
Prep time: 5 minutes It took me 20 min to prepare (take everything out, chop the onions, garlic, shred carrots, etc)
Active Cooking time: 10-14 min Including the eggs, I actively cooked for 20 min
Walk-away time: 5 minutes Nope. I walked away for a full half hour. My rice STILL could have used more time

Ingredients
4 teaspoons peanut oil, divided Took me a while to figure out what she meant by “divided” — I was actually looking for “divided peanut oil” at the grocery store LOL! What she means is that you will use 2 teaspoons for one thing, and 2 teaspoons for another, so keep them separate
2 large eggs, slightly beaten. Good Health Note: To eliminate about 40 calories and 10 fat grams from the dish, substitute 1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute for the 2 large eggs I used the eggs
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup shredded carrots
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup quick-cooking white rice Whatever that means
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups diced leftover pork See my entry for Balsamic Pork Tenderloin
1/2 cup frozen green peas I think I used 1/4 cup — I’m not a big fan of peas
Salt and freshly ground black pepper I ended up not using these

Directions
Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the eggs and cook, stirring frequently, until cooked through and scrambled, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the eggs to a plate and keep warm. It took me an hour to finish… there was no way my eggs were still warm when I served.
To the same skillet, still over medium heat, heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil. Add the onion, carrots, and garlic and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly to coat with the oil (by the time you add the rice, the oil is all gone; I just made sure to mix the rice well with the onion mix). Add the hoisin and stir to coat the rice (don’t use a full 1/4 cup — that is too much, but I don’t know what amount would be right). Add the broth, pork, and peas and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover, and let stand until the liquid is absorbed and the rice tender, about 5 minutes (5 minutes my ass; I waited a full 30 min and it still wasn’t absorbed 100%). Fluff with a fork and season to taste with the salt and pepper (I didn’t do this last thing).
Transfer the fried rice to individual plates. Chop the cooked egg into small pieces and sprinkle over the rice just before serving. I think my pieces of egg were a little big, but I like eggs.

I put the left overs in a tupperware. I think it will make 3 more meals. However, I’m not really looking forward to eating it.

I don’t want to give up on pork fried rice, though… but I do give up on this recipe. I’ll eat the left overs, but I don’t have to enjoy it.

ina

Brian’s Corner: Hold the Thyme

Brian LOVED the pork tenderloin. How do I know? Because he ate it all and didn’t play with his food. It’s like we’re talking about a 7-year old, isn’t it? 🙂 No, we are talking about my grown-up husband. You have to watch his reactions to food in order to get the whole story.

The only thing he asked for was to use less thyme next time. Remember that the “sauce” is balsamic vinegar, thyme and mustard, which is pretty sour, even though the honey really gives it a very nice balance. Remember that for Brian, like many picky eaters, that kind of kick is often unwelcome.

ina

*** Balsamic Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Rating: AMAZING! MAKE IT AGAIN!

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This recipe is from the book Robin Miller’s Quick Fix Meals.

This meal surpassed all of my expectations. Not only was it easy to make, it was also to the liking of my loving husband, Brian. I would definitely make this again. Now, it did take some time to make. In summary, it took me about 30 min to prepare, and then another 30 min for the pork to roast. So technically, I just prepared for 30 min, and cleaned up with the rest of the time, basting every 15 min. Not too bad for such a fancy-looking meal!

Here’s the deal with this one: in Robin’s book, she has a section called “One Recipe, MORPH IT: Many Meals,” where she makes you make one main dish, and then use the left overs to make other awesome recipes. This was the MAIN dish of one of the Morph recipes. Here’s how this one goes:

1. Main Recipe: Balsamic Roasted Pork Tenderloin
2. Wonton Soup
3. Pork Fried Rice
4. Pork Sloppy Joes

I will make the other recipes as well and let you know how it goes in different entries. This one is about the Main Recipe.

Our delicious meal

The Finished Product

Two 1-pounders

Balsamic Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Quick Fix Meals by Robin Miller
My comments in blue

Serves 4 It served 2 immediately, and I saved 2 more portions in tupperwares for the week

Timing
Prep time: 5 minutes Maybe in Jupiter minutes! It took me a good 30 min to prepare
Walk-away time: 45 min It was actually 30 minutes for me
Resting time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
Cooking spray
Two 2-pound pork tenderloins, trimmed of silverskin if necessary (see Prep Pointer on page 45) Page 45 basically says to remove any white fat and the thin membrane around the meat. Here’s another note about the tenderloins: they come 2 per pack! (or maybe it’s one folded in half?), and I didn’t know this when I bought it, which actually did end up working out for the best. I bought 2 packages, weighing around 2lbs each. I got home and noticed there were 2 per pack, weighing about 1lb each. So what I did was cook all of them in the indicated way (using 2 cooking sheets and putting two 1-pounders in each). We ate one of the 1-pounders for dinner, then I sliced up the second 1-pounder for left overs, and the other 2 1-pounders I ended up shredding and dicing, respectively, for the other Morph recipes. I like it this way better than having bought 1 package that weighed 4 pounds. It’s done faster in the oven my way anyway.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey FYI, 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons chopped freshly thyme

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Coat a shallow roasting pan with cooking spray. Place the pork in the prepared pan and season the top and sides with salt and pepper.
In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey, mustard, and thyme. Spoon the mixture all over the pork, then roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads at least 160F (the pork may still be pink in the center and that’s OK, so long as the temperature is right), about 45 minutes, basting every 15 minutes if possible. A couple of notes: 1) The mixture is the perfect amount for our 4 1-pounders, but it’s not enough for basting, so just baste as much as you can. Don’t just make more mix. 2) I didn’t start taking the temperature until 30 min into it, because I forgot, and it was at 158F. I just waited a few minutes for it to reach 162 or so, and I took them out of the oven. They were PERFECT, even though the balsamic/mustard mix had burnt all around it on the aluminum foil. Don’t let that scare you.
Let the pork stand for 10 minutes before slicing one-third of it crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices. Serve the sliced pork for this meal and refrigerate the leftovers up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months.

It was lucky we had mashed potatoes in the fridge ready to eat, because Robin’s sidenote in the book says that you can put a few small potatoes in with the pork and they will be ready when the pork is. That is a lie! They were SO hard when I took out the pork, we couldn’t even eat them. Mashed potatoes worked just fine 🙂

After dinner, I went back to the last 2 1-pounders and shredded and diced them up. Put them in tupperwares and will cook them later in the week.

ina

** Baked Ziti with Turkey Sausage

Rating: Nothing to write home about.

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This recipe is from the book Robin Miller’s Quick Fix Meals.

I can’t say I was really a fan of this recipe, however, it did feed me for 4 meals. It’s relatively cheap, and it makes plenty of food. That’s definitely something to keep in mind. See more thoughts in blue below.

Baked Ziti with Turkey Sausage

Baked Ziti with Turkey Sausage
Quick Fix Meals by Robin Miller
My comments in blue

Serves 4 to 6 For me, it comfortably made 4 portions.

Timing
Prep time: 20 min Took me 30min
Active cooking time: 6 min It took me a LOT longer to put together the casserole
Walk-away time: 10 min Not sure what they mean with this when it’s still talking about prep time
Cook time for left overs: 45 min Sounds right

Ingredients
1 pound Ziti noodles I think I measured just enough for 4 portions, since I knew that’s how much I would eat. Don’t know if it was a pound or not, but it worked. Also, I used Healthy Harvest’s Whole-Wheat Ziti with lines.
2 teaspoons olive oil
8 ounces turkey or chicken sausage (sweet or hot), casing removed I used 2 links of sweet turkey sausage — the 2 that were left over from the Angel Hair recipe!
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes I bought 2 14-oz cans, and then I forgot to add the second can! So my recipe could have been a little more “tomatoey” — don’t think that would have made a difference in the rating, though
One 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
One 15-ounce container part-skim ricotta cheese
8 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, preferably freshly grated

Directions
Cook the pasta according to the package directions, then drain.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until browned, about 5 minutes, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, and basil and bring to a simmer. Partially cover the pan, reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, half the mozzarella, and the garlic powder until well combined.
Spoon 1 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 4-quart casserole dish I think my baking dish was WAY too big for the recipe… I couldn’t tell if it was 4 quarts or not. Top with half the cooked ziti Here’s the first issue with this recipe: it tells you CLEARLY to pour HALF of the ziti, but then it tells you to keep layering until you run out of ingredients… how many layers could you make if you’ve already used up half the ziti??. Top with half the cheese mixture, spreading it evenly with the back of a spoon or a rubber spatula This is IMPOSSIBLE to do. The ziti is way too shifty, and there is no way you’ll be able to spread it as if you were spreading butter on toast. What I ended up doing is trying to spread as much as I could little by little… but it still was not NEAT. Top with another cup of the tomato sauce. Repeat the layers (I guess they just mean “once more”) using the remaining ziti and ricotta mixture, then top with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and the Parmesan evenly over the top.

** IF YOU’RE STOPPING HERE: I didn’t stop here. You can skip to the next part
Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months. Thaw completely in the refrigerator or microwave for 4 to 6 minutes on LOW before baking.

** WHEN YOU’RE READY TO EAT:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Remove the plastic wrap from the baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until the cheese is golden and bubbly, about 15 more minutes.

I completed the entire recipe, and then I split the meals into 4 tupperwares. It was enough for 5 meals (the ones I saved plus the one I had right away).

I liked to finish every meal with a yogurt for dessert. The best ones in terms of calories are the Dannon ones. They just came out with an Apple Pie flavor that is TO DIE for.

ina

Brian’s Corner: In the Beginning, there was darkness…

This section of the blog is not actually written by Brian, but written ABOUT him by his lovely wife, ina.

Let’s first give you some background on Brian’s lifestyle:

Brian is a very handsome 28-year-old working professional whose favorite food is pizza, and favorite drink is Coke. Ever since college he had been drinking up to 6 Cokes per day. Nowadays, he’s toned it down to only one, which is a big accomplishment of his.

Once a week, on the days I’m not home, he will cook himself some whole-wheat ziti with marinara sauce. Why whole-wheat? He read the first chapter of the book Eat, Drink and be Healthy and it forever scared him off regular white pasta. Good for him. I wish he had gotten to Chapter 2 at some point.

Brian’s favorite snack used to be Oreo’s with milk (1%), until he noticed he had a hard time sleeping at night after he had them. So he switched to Hershey kisses. It is amazing to see this man open one after the other and put them all in his mouth. I tried to do it with him once, and I could not open the wrapper as fast as he did. It was uncanny.

Other than pasta, I have NO idea what he has for dinner. We order from Bertucci’s quite a lot, actually. They are 5 min away and they started to DELIVER. So that was always an easy (yet expensive) choice. I am actually afraid he might be getting himself McDonald’s and more pizza more often than he should.

Brian is not completely devoid of self-awareness when it comes to eating better. Reading the first chapter of that book was something he did out of his own interest in becoming healthier, but there is always something that gets in the way. Mostly procrastination and lack of motivation.

Brian was never big on left overs. He grew up in a big family where the food did not last more than a day in the fridge. Usually it was his father who had the left overs, but nobody else. So he just never really got a taste for them.

Brian also lives a very sedentary life: he gets in his car in the morning, drives to work where he is mostly sitting down (although sometimes he gets to take the elevator from floor to floor), then gets back in his car, comes home, lies in the couch with his computer, then goes to bed to a fully horizontal position. This is his every day life, and he is aware that it is not how he wants to lead it. So, with a little encouragement from his truly, we will be signing up for a gym on Monday and we will make it a habit to go every Monday night together.

In these Brian’s Corners, we will talk about his progress with a better eating habit, and any tips & tricks that may be helping him along the way.

Here is the first Brian’s Corners tip: Brian recently switched from Classic Coke to Decaffeinated Coke. This was a BIG move on his part to ween himself off the caffeine. He is a BIG Coke drinker, and if he says that the taste is almost the same, then by golly, the taste is almost the same! If you have a Coke addiction, this might be a good place to start making a change. Sometimes Brian gets caffeine headaches. This is NORMAL during the ween off phase. Just do it gradually and switch completely out of the caffeine. Your body will thank you for it.

ina

*** Angel Hair with Creamy Turkey Sausage and Wild Mushroom Sauce

Rating: AMAZING! MAKE IT AGAIN!

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This recipe is from the book Robin Miller’s Quick Fix Meals.

Two things of note: my dinner was absolutely delicious. I made enough to have 2 more portions left over. It was YUMMY.

The second thing is that Robin claims that these meals take 15min to make, or at most 1 hour prep-work for ALL the meals of the week. All I have to say to Robin is: Bullcrap! I started cooking at 8:15, and didn’t eat until 9:30pm. And that was for just ONE recipe! It was delicious, though. Just don’t lie to me. I don’t have time for your loose conjectures.

Post-post note: My sister told me that the picture doesn’t look very appetizing. I apologize for that: I didn’t know I’d be starting a blog when I took this picture, and I didn’t worry about making it look good. I even took it with my phone camera. But I assure you, this meal will knock your socks off!

Angel Hair with Creamy Turkey Sausage and Wild Mushroom Sauce

Angel Hair with Creamy Turkey Sausage and Wild Mushroom Sauce
Quick Fix Meals by Robin Miller
My comments in blue

Serves 4

Alleged Timing
Alleged prep time: 10 min
Alleged active cooking time: 10-12 min
Alleged walk-away time: 10 min
Alleged cook time for left overs: 5 min

Ingredients
12 ounces angel hair pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped shallots
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 pound of sweet turkey, hot turkey or chicken sausage, cut into 1/2 inch pieces I used 3 links of sweet turkey, and it was plenty
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup frozen green peas
1 1/2 cups low-fat sour cream
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions
Cook the pasta according to the package directions, then drain.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring a few times, until they are tender and releasing juice, 3 t o5 minutes. Add the sausage and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add the thyme, oregano, salt and pepper and stir until well combined and the herbs are fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low, partially cover the pan, and simmer until the sausage is cooked through, about 10 minutes.

** IF YOU’RE STOPPING HERE: I didn’t stop here. You can skip to the next part
Let the sauce cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to a large plastic zip-top bag or container (or two) and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months (no need to thaw before continuing). Let the pasta cool to room temperature and refrigerate up to 3 days.

** WHEN YOU’RE READY TO EAT:
Reheat the turkey mixture in a large skillet over medium heat until simmering. Add the peas and simmer 1 minute more. Stir in the sour cream and Parmesan and simmer 1 minute to heat through. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir in the parsley.
Reheat the angel hair in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes on HIGH. Transfer the angel hair to individual shallow bowls, spoon the turkey mixture over the top, and serve.

I completed the entire recipe, and then I split the meals into 3 tupperwares. It was enough for 3 meals.

I liked to finish every meal with a yogurt for dessert. The best ones in terms of calories are the Dannon ones. They just came out with an Apple Pie flavor that is TO DIE for.

ina

Blogging Ina Kitchen

Hello, my name is ina. Welcome to my kitchen!

Due to unforeseen events recently, I have been pushed into the kitchen to cook my meals in order to save some money. The first thing I did was to pick one of my MANY quick-fix cookbooks out of my bookshelf, and started earmarking the ones that sounded good. I’ve only made 2 recipes so far, and I will share those with you, as well as give you my review. Here is the ranking system:

1 star = Never make it again
2 stars = Nothing to write home about. Might make it again if it was easy enough.
3 stars = AMAZING. MAKE IT AGAIN!!!

That’s the Cliff’s Notes. Now, here is some background:

I am a 28-year old corporate professional who works 8-5 in the city of Boston. I get home at 6pm, and head out to my MBA class 2 nights a week. In short, I have a very busy life and cooking has never fit into it. It’s always been something that nags me from the back of my head (“you should be planning your meals for the week”) but it never happened. But then the universe had other plans for us: our basement took in water from the heavy rains in the past couple of weeks, and we will probably be spending several tens of thousands of dollars installing a sump pump and refinishing the whole basement this year. If we felt cash-strapped before, we are feeling huge pressure right now.

So, no more eating out every day. No more pizza twice a week. No more McDonald’s to get dinner out of the way. It is time to hit the kitchen and cook.

Here are my biggest challenges:

• My husband, Brian, is an EXTREMELY picky eater. His ideal menu would only include pizza, burgers, pasta and coke, if he had a choice. I have come to realize that this is mostly out of convenience and out of fear of choices than it is the actual taste of the food. So our challenge is to make something that he would eventually want to eat multiple times, while at the same time keeping myself fed.
• Did I mention that my husband does not eat left overs? Yeah, let’s add that to the list.
• I have to do my grocery shopping and cooking over the weekend. There is no time to do it during the week.
• I am the only one eating left overs, which means, in some cases, to cook a big meal only for myself, and then split into separate tupperwares

If you know someone like Brian, you might benefit from our segment called Brian’s Corner, where we will give you updates on Brian’s eating habits and tips and tricks that worked for him.

I guess that’s it. Mi kitchen es su kitchen. Hope you enjoy these recipes and have fun making the good ones!

ina