A Valentines Feast

I know Valentine's Day is a made up, capitalistic holiday where corporations make people go and spend their hard earned money on their loved ones - but I love a day where you're suppose to make that special effort for the one you love.  I'm a girl that grew up on Disney Princesses and 90s Rom-Coms, so I'll take any excuse to get some extra attention and romance.  This year we aren't spending any money on gifts or expensive dinners that aren't really worth.  Valentines dinners are such a pain with the big crowds and bad service.  Instead, we're making dinner for each other and having a nice quiet night in.

Sunday night, he made a great dinner for me which included steak, salmon, lobster-tails, and his unique broccoli recipe (the only way I'll actually eat it, mainly because veggies are gross).  Now this wasn't a cheap dinner, but it was significantly less expensive then getting flowers delivered or going out.  I loved it because we work well together in the kitchen and got to spend so quality time making food.

Pot Roast

On Tuesday I'm going to be making him a roast in the crockpot.

Ingredients:
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
4 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 lb. red-skinned potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups beef stock
1 cup tomato sauce
1 garlic clove, crushed (pretty much the same as mincing, slightly larger)
3 fresh thyme sprigs (run your finger along the thyme branch-thing to take off the leaves)
1 bay leaf
1 beef rump roast, 3 to 4 lb.
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
The night before I'm going to chop my onions, carrots, potatoes, and garlic and set them aside.

The morning of I'll put the chopped ingredients into the crockpot along with the thyme, bay leaf, beef stock, and tomato sauce.  Season the roast with salt and pepper and coat with flour.  Heat olive oil in a saute pan and brown on all sides (about 4 minutes total), and add to the crockpot.  Turn the crockpot on low and head off to work (cook for about 10 hours).

Mexican Chicken Results

Yummm.... I love coming home to an apartment that smells delicious, it's such a good way to end the workday on a good note and always calms me even if its been a bad day.  Last night was no exception.  I got off of work much later than expected, so the chicken was cooking for about 9.5 hours on low.  Thankfully, the broth prevented it from drying out or burning.

When putting everything together in the morning, there was a bit of chicken broth left over, so I just put it in anyway and added a bit more salsa.  After I got home, I heated the oven and shredded the chicken.  The chicken just fell apart, so that only took about 5 minutes, maybe less.  I was starving, so I started eating the chicken while I made the enchiladas :)

I rolled tortillas filled with chicken and cheese and then topped it off with store-bought green enchilada sauce and lots of cheese.  I put it in the oven for about 10 minutes while I cleaned up.

I'd give this recipe an A.  It was a little spicy and very flavorful.  Next time I make it, I'll probably do tacos or something where the flavor comes out more and isn't masked by the sauce on top.  This was cheap, easy, and tasted great.  I love my crockpot!

Adventure 6: Mexican Chicken for Enchilladas

Mexican Chicken for Enchiladas

I've made enchiladas before, but they've always been so much work and a bit underwhelming.  I've always boiled the chicken and then shredded or cut it before putting it into the tortilla.  Shredding literally takes hours, and cutting the chicken into bite sized pieces results in chicken always falling out.  The chicken ends up being very bland, but that's usually masked by the enchilada sauce.  When I found this recipe I was really excited to give it a try.

Ingredients

1.5-2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup salsa of choice 
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp chili powder (more if you like some heat)
1/4 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp cumin
sea salt and pepper to taste

tortillas (I use flour)
shredded cheese
enchilada sauce

Directions
Put the chicken in the slow cooker.  Add the other ingredients and stir.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours (mine will probably end up in there closer to 9 due to work).

After work I'll shred the chicken, add cheese and wrap in a tortilla.  Then add the sauce (already heated up in a pot on the stove) and more cheese to the top of the enchiladas and throw in the oven for about 10-15 minutes to melt the cheese.

Thai Chicken Results

Throughout your life, teachers, parents, and other authority figures tell you to read instructions and follow directions.  Unfortunately, that has never been my strong suit.  When cooking and not really knowing what you're doing, it's very important to check for extra instructions!

 

When using PB2, you need to mix with water... I did not see that and didn't do it.  I came home to extremely dry and kind of burnt chicken.  The flavor was there and the chicken tasted pretty good, but even after pouring the remaining spoonfuls of sauce over the chicken, it was still dry.  I'll probably try the recipe again, I think with extra liquid in the crockpot it could be really good, but I'd probably have to give this dinner a C-.

Adventure 5: Spicy Thai Chicken

Spicy Thai Chicken with Rice and Broccoli

This recipe sounds extremely easy to prepare.  One of my friends made it and it tasted amazing, so I felt like giving it a try.

Ingredients:
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts
1/3 cup PB2 (reduced fat peanut butter)
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
1/2 cup sambal oelek ground chili paste
3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
So the night before I added all the ingredients together minus the chicken and cilantro.  I realized my ginger was old and unusable so we're going to see how this tastes without it.  In the morning I cut as much fat as I could from the chicken (it was really gross) and put the chicken in the crockpot, poured the sauce on top, and cooked on low for 8 hours.

Adventure 4: Pasta Sauce from scratch

Creamy Jambalaya Pasta
 
I've always cooked pasta from the box and out of a jar.  Typically I add salt, pepper, and maybe some oregano, but that's about it.  The problem with this is there's only so many times a person can eat spaghetti or alfredo before starting to get sick of it.  Pinterest to the rescue!  One of my friends came across this post and said I should give it a try.  It looked amazing so I thought I would give it a try.


Ingredients:
1 box bowtie pasta (1 lb)
1 smoked sausage
1 cup half and half
4 cloves minced garlic
1 chopped onion
3 teaspoons cajun seasoning
3 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup white wine (chardonnay)
8 tablespoons tomato sauce

Directions:
Boil water for pasta, add salt and a dash of olive oil.  Boil the pasta until al dente.

Brown sausage in a skillet until browned.  I set the sausage aside so it doesn't get soft.  If there's a lot of grease in the pan take a paper towel and soak it up.  Add onion and saute for about two minutes, add garlic and cook until you can smell it (about 30 seconds).  Add white wine to the skillet and scrape up any of the brown bits from the bottom.  Let the wine reduce by half (3 minutes or so).

Stir in the cajun seasoning, paprika, salt, pepper, tomato sauce, and cream.  Heat until almost bubbling then reduce the heat to low.  Allow the cream mixture to reduce by half (about 10 minutes).

Toss pasta with sauce, add cheese, and I completely forgot the parsley but add that too.

Results:
I really liked the pasta, it tasted great.  I threw in a dash of crushed red peppers for a little extra heat.  My one issue was the sauce was really soupy.  I doubled the original recipe because I wanted to make sure I had enough for lunches the next day, but in doing that the sauce wasn't the right thickness.  Taste was awesome though, I may try playing around with it next time and cut the half and half and/or wine.

PS - After refrigerating and reheating for lunch the sauce was the perfect consistency - not too soupy, not to thick. :)

Chili Results

Yummmm.  I open the door and the house smells amazing.  I never think chili looks very good, but good chili tastes amazing.  I put some chili on top of rice, added cheese and it was delicious. (I totally forgot to add green onions on top.)







I think the chili tastes great and the flavors blend really well together.  I can't really taste the pineapple and might add more next time but it definitely adds a sweetness to the chili that compliments the heat really well.  I think it has the perfect amount of heat, and might add another spicy sausage and take out 1/2 a pound of ground beef next time.  The food was really filling but didn't feel heavy which I was really happy with.  One thing I'd like is for it to be a bit more soupy, so next time I make it I'll have to figure out if I need to add more tomato sauce, less paste, or add water.  Anyone have any ideas on how to best do that?

I'd give it a B, and will definitely be making this in the future.

P.S. - Its even better the next day!