May Menu ~ 2013

You may have noticed that I took a little sabbatical from blogging. I didn’t know I was going to take a break but it was obvious that I needed one. It’s also pretty obvious that I didn’t cook nearly as much of my April menu as I intended and I usually try to make those recipes up the next month, but alas, I probably won’t get to those any time soon. But I do have a whole menu of new and exciting recipes to share, and I appreciate all you wonderful readers and fellow bloggers for coming back to see what I’m cooking

Recipes I’m cooking that I’ve shared before:

Zucchini Noodles,  Cilantro Lime Rice,  Spinach Tomato Feta Frittata,  Cheeseburger Salad,  Black Bean & Steak Taquitos

Recipes I’m working on this month:

Quinoa, Black Bean & Corn Burritos

Fish Cakes with Cilantro-Lime Dip

Mushroom & Peas Pulao

Chicken Enchilada Pasta Bake

Skinny Cheeseburger Casserole

Southwest Chicken & Corn Chowder

Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken

White Bean Turkey Chili

Marinated London Broil

Cajun Chicken Fritters with Cajun Aioli

Bourbon BBQ Sliders with Garlic Aioli

Southwest Chicken Wraps

Honey-Lime Chicken Skewers

Chipotle Steak Burritos

Crispy GF Sweet & Sour Chicken

Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup

Crock Pot Short Rib Tacos with Queso

Chopped Thai Chicken Salad

 Sides & Other:

Thai Dragon Noodles

Turkey Bacon & Cheddar Potato Cakes

Four Bean Salad

Breakfast Enchiladas

Slow Cooker Macaroni & Cheese

Desserts:

Gooey Butter Bars with Fresh Strawberries

Mini Apple Tarte Tatin

Strawberry Tart with Basil Cream

Vanilla-Coconut Rice Pudding

Lemon Cake with Raspberries and Yogurt Frosting

Roasted Potato Frittata

Have I ever mentioned how much I love frittata? Oh, I have?? Well, it’s only because it’s so easy and versatile and delicious! You can take just about any ingredients from your refrigerator, leftovers especially, and throw it all together with some eggs and make it into a wonderful and filling pie.

Some say that a true frittata is made with a potato base. I believe that a frittata counts as long as it is baked within an egg custard (sans pie crust, of course, because then it’d be a quiche). Whatever you like in your frittata is good enough for me, but here’s a roasted potato recipe that even staunch frittata-lovers should approve of.

EVOO

salt & pepper

2 cups seasoned potato wedges, roasted

1 cup sharp shredded cheese*

4 large eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp thyme

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved

2 T parmesan

Preheat oven to 375*. If you don’t already have some leftover potatoes, simply peel and cube a few, toss with EVOO and salt & pepper, and roast until done.

Using a 8 or 9 inch pie plate, lightly grease and set aside.

In bowl, whisk together eggs and sour cream until smooth.

For the cheese: use any really sharp or flavorful cheese such as swiss, Jarlsberg, cheddar, asiago, blue, or limburger. *I love sharp cheddar so much that I always have it on hand, however for this I wanted to use up the plethora of babybell I had on hand. This is an extremely soft cheese, so I placed it in the freezer for about 30 minutes so it would grate easily in my food processor.

Arrange the roasted potatoes in the bottom of the pie plate and sprinkle the shredded cheese on top. Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and wiggle the ingredients around a little with a spatula so the custard seeps in around the potato wedges.

Dot the surface with the tomatoes and sprinkle the thyme over it. Top with a sprinkling of the parmesan.

Bake for 35 minutes, until the frittata is set. Cool slightly before slicing and serving. Enjoy!

Gluten Free February Menu ~ 2013

It’s here! I hope you’re ready for some awesome GF recipes because I have been researching and collecting for weeks. As I mentioned before, I am going to take this week by week so that I don’t get overwhelemed. What that means is I will prepare a GF meal every evening for family dinner and I am personally going to attempt to eat as GF as possible every day, and while I will try to feed my family GF as much as possible I realize that we’re just not there yet, so I am not going to fixate over that. First thing’s first. I have about three weeks worth of meal ideas plus a few extras  but by the middle of the month I should have a better grasp of what I’m doing and some more recipes to share.

In addition to my semi-regular menu plan of Meatless Mondays, Mexican Wednesdays, and Friday Pizza Nights, I am adding Crock Pot Sundays. Thursdays are still fish recipes, and that just leaves Tuesdays and Saturdays for everything else. I hope you enjoy this menu plan, and as always I will come back and add links once the recipe has been posted.

Cheeseburger Salad

Lentil and Pasta Soup (substitute GF pasta)

 Black Bean Soup

BBQ Salmon

Garlic Tilapia

TexMex Polenta Pizza

Brown Rice Macaroni and Cheese

Stew Beef with Brown Rice

Turkey Ragu with Polenta

Baked Tacos with Crock Pot Pinto Beans

Tuna Steaks with Lima Bean Butter

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken

Black Bean Risotto

Roasted Potato Frittata

Mexican Stew with Ground Turkey

Brown Rice Pasta with Ground Turkey Bolognese

Mini Polenta Pizzas

Quinoa-Crusted Chicken

~*~ EXTRAS ~*~

Bacon & Egg Puffs

Breakfast Burrito

Blueberry Muffins

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sweet Potato Cornbread

Sweet Corn Risotto

Zucchini Tomato Feta Spaghetti Fritatta

In my search for great vegetarian dishes I came across two different frittata recipes. One called for linguine and greens (any kind such as collards), and the other, zucchini and tomato. Well, they both sounded so good that I just couldn’t decide. So instead of choosing I simply adapted both recipes and combined them into one fantastic frittata!

Zucchini Tomato Feta Spaghetti Frittata

1 Tbsp. EVOO

1 small onion, diced

2 large zucchini, or 3 smaller ones sliced about 1/4 inch thick

1-2 large tomato, sliced

1 Tbsp. fresh Thyme leaves (or 1 tsp. dried)

Salt & Pepper

9 large eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup feta, chopped up

1/4 grated parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cups cooked whole wheat  spaghetti or linguine

Pre-heat oven to 425*. In a 10-inch oven-proof skillet over medium heat, warm oil. Add zucchini, onion, and thyme and cook, covered, stirring often, until tender but not browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. {I browned mine anyway because that’s how I roll and it turned out great. So don’t panic if your stove top is hotter than any other in the whole world, like mine is.} Uncover, and cook until all the liquid in the pan evaporates. Season with salt and pepper, remove skillet from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs and milk. Add parmesan cheese and whisk briefly again. Stir in noodles. Pour egg mixture over zucchini. Use a fork to gently combine the vegetables with the noodles {You could cut the noodles up into smaller pieces before to make this easier. I didn’t because I like to make things difficult for myself. It still turned out fine} and to allow the beaten eggs to coat the bottom of the pan. Top with feta cheese and tomato slices.

Place skillet in oven and allow egg to cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until egg mixture is fluffy, slightly browned, and center is set. You can set the broiler on the last few minutes.

Remove from oven; gently slide a heatproof spatula around the edges and underneath to loosen from skillet. Serve immediately.

There are so many ways to make a frittata!

I hope you enjoyed this week’s Meatless Monday recipe