Taking Inventory

I realized that the folder for food photos on my computer was becoming unruly, so I decided to organize it today. What I realized in the process was appalling—I have 28 recipes that I have made and have yet to blog about.

The horror! The shame! The… procrastination!

And if I’m going to be truly honest, then I have to admit that there are many more un-blogged-about recipes than that. They aren’t as obvious since I don’t have photos of the finished products. This often happens because I’m STARVING and just want to eat instead of worrying about lighting and presentation. But I know those delicious little meals are lurking in my guilty subconscious, waiting for blogging redemption.

So, in the spirit of being as productive on my blog as I apparently am in my kitchen, here’s a vegetarian recipe that I made a couple of weeks ago.

(Btw, I have SO been keeping my New Year’s resolution to make veggie meals at least once a week. Go me!)

Moroccan Chickpea Stew
From First for Women, 2008

When to cook: On a weeknight when you need a quick meal and you’re sick of your go-to of pasta or baked chicken. This only takes about 20 minutes to prepare, and couscous cooks in 10 minutes or less!

½ cup chopped onions
2 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon Moroccan rub, like the Spice Hunter (I couldn’t find this in our crappily-stocked grocery store, so I used some various spices already in my cupboard…a little ground cumin, thyme, salt and pepper.)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cans (14.5 oz each) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas, drained.
2 cups arugula
¼ cup raisins (Or Craisins, which I used instead because I had them on hand)
¼ cup slivered almonds
Cooked couscous

Heat oil over large skillet on medium heat. Cook onions, garlic and spices in hot oil. When the onions are soft, add cans of tomatoes and chickpeas; cover and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in arugula, raisins and almonds. Cook 2 minutes. Serve over couscous.

Makes about 4 servings. Total cost: $8.58; $2.15 per serving.

Turkey Coma

Yep, I’ve been in a turkey coma. I just woke up yesterday. It was pretty severe, really.

So…yeah.

Ok, I’m a bad liar. Honestly, I just abandoned the blog for the past week (or two) so that I could actually eat food instead of just write about it. Plus, I was having major turkey anxiety over the 18-pound monstrosity residing in my freezer that I was supposed to COOK. I’m an amateur at normal cooking, so the thought of cooking an entire bird was daunting. More on this later (possibly with video?).

For now, let’s deal with the turkey leftovers. And yes, when you have an 18-pound bird and only four people to eat it, there are going to be leftovers. The lady mags always whip out creative ways to use up these leftovers in their November issues, so here are a few ideas from this walking, breathing lady mag.

1. Feed it to the dog. Duh. (Or cat. My adorable fluffball, Prancy, is loving the turkey scraps.)
2. Toss pieces at the side of your neighbor’s house. This works best if your neighbor has some sort of siding, and if your turkey is moist-ish. Slather some leftover cranberry sauce on that foul if need be. Whoever’s turkey slab sticks the longest wins!
3. Leftover turkey is the prize. (Sneeeaaaky!)
4. Pack it in your kids’ lunches (or whoever you happen to be making lunch for). Obviously, don’t put it in your own though.
5. Try the recipe below.

Turkey Poofs

Adapted from "Chicken Poofs" recipe on Prevention.com.

1 cup reduced-sodium stuffing mix (if you have some leftover stuffing you can use it, or just buy a box of Stove Top. When I made this, I’m pretty sure I used the whole box, which is more like 2 cups of mix.)
1½ cups cooked turkey breast, shredded (or use chicken.)
1 cup fat-free sour cream
2 containers (8 rolls in each) reduced-fat crescent rolls

Preheat the oven according to the directions on the crescent roll container. In a medium saucepan, prepare the stuffing mix according to the package instructions. (If you’re using leftovers, skip to the next step.) Remove it from heat and mix in turkey and sour cream. On a large nonstick cookie sheet, unroll the crescent rolls. Separate them in pairs and arrange them to form squares, pinching together the seams as you flatten the dough. Place desired amount of stuffing mixture in the center of each square. Pull up the corners and make a pyramid of sorts with the crescent pastry. Pinch together all the seams, so you can’t see any turkey mixture. Bake for about 14 minutes, or until golden brown.

Nutritional info per serving: 336 calories, 13.5 g fat, 3.2 g sat fat, 21.9 mg cholesterol, 737.4 mg sodium, 35.7 g carbs, 9.3 g total sugars, 0.4 g dietary fiber, 15.8 g protein.

Lazy Dinner: Part 2

It’s true. I cook a lot more than I used to. But sometimes, I just want to freaking eat.

Not cook.

EAT!

When this happens, Jon usually comes home to all of the contents of the fridge sitting on the cabinet.

“Leftovers night!” I scream before he can ask the hated, “What’s for dinner?” question.

But sometimes there aren’t any leftovers, which either means I’m eating cereal for dinner or making something incredibly easy. This is where pasta comes in. I love pasta nights for lazy days; it takes little to no effort to make and it's always warm and tasty. But pasta can get repetitive, which is why I tried to spruce it up last time. Here’s what I came up with:

I bought frozen tortellinis instead of regular pasta to mix up the regular spaghetti with pasta sauce routine. And buying frozen is a good choice because, like dried pasta, it can be stored for months, which means that you have it on hand the next time the thought of cooking makes you want to stab someone. After boiling (tortellinis take less than five minutes, even when frozen), serve with store-bought tomato or pesto sauce.

Then pair the tortellinis with a vegetable or salad, and this Zucchini-Garlic Toast. In the time it takes your water to boil and the pasta to cook, you can make this bread and take the boring pasta dinner up a notch, all without having to do much cooking.

Zucchini-Garlic Toast
Recipe adapted from a spring 2008 issue of First magazine.

Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 10 minutes
(It usually takes me so much longer to make a recipe than the “total time” listed, but this bread really only took 10-15 minutes to make.)

1 loaf Italian bread (about 12”) cut lengthwise into 3 slices.
1 small zucchini, halved and shredded
1 cup shredded 5-cheese Italian blend
3 cloves garlic (I was super lazy and just substituted a few sprinkles of garlic powder.)
1 Tbs. chopped roasted red peppers (I didn’t have any of these on hand, so I left it out. I’m sure the peppers really add to the flavor, though, so include it if you can.)
½ Tbs. chopped fresh oregano (Go for dried if that’s what you have in your cabinets!)

Heat broiler. Broil bread 3 minutes, turning once. In bowl, combine remaining ingredients; season with salt and pepper. Place grilled bread on foil or baking sheet. Top each bread slice with 1/3 cup of zucchini mixture. Broil toast 1 minute, or until cheese is melted. Cut diagonally into 2”-inch thick slices.

If this is lazy, then count me in.

So, I’ve been a little lazy with my cooking lately.

I think it’s a matter of Halloween and Election Day preoccupation that’s been soaking up my energy. But sometimes good things come from slacking on dinner. Behold:

Mmmmm…grilled cheese and tomato soup with a mountain of shredded mozzarella cheese on top. I’ve made this twice in the last week or so (like I said, I’ve been slacking). Obviously, canned soup paired with American “cheese” slices on Wonder Bread isn’t gourmet, but it is some serious comfort food. Plus, when you get home from a long day at work (or from a draining interview, in my case), you can make dinner and be plopped down on the couch in 15 minutes—less if you heat the soup in the microwave.

And it’s cheap. Until I find a job, cheap is very, very good.

Give a shout-out to your favorite comfort foods in the comments!