Split Pea Soup with Rosemary

as a kid, i did not like peas.  i hated them.  i was not a picky eater, but peas were definitely on the "do not eat" list.  and split pea soup?  seriously?  no thank you.

and then something happened: i realized that really i just didn't like CANNED peas.  frozen peas are fabulous!  i love them!  and then something else happened: during a hormone-induced weird pregnancy craving...all i wanted was split pea soup.  i found this recipe.  i love it.  i've made it for my mom before and she liked it.  kaia used to like it before she was FOUR and was not so opinionated about FOODS BEING MIXED TOGETHER.  layla scarfed it down.

more water/chicken broth can be added to thin the soup to desired consistency.

Split Pea Soup with Rosemary
6 servings

6 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 small onion, chopped
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 (10.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 1/2 cups green split peas
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

1. Place bacon in a large pot, and cook over medium heat until crisp. Stir in onion, leek, carrot, and garlic; cook until the vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. Pour in chicken broth. Stir in split peas, bay leaves, and rosemary. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover, and simmer until peas are cooked, about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

my notes:
i usually only use 4 slices bacon because it's really rich with 6 and it seems unnecessary.
i don't buy fresh rosemary just for this and it's good with dried if i don't have fresh on hand.
leek can be replaced with celery if desired.


unfortunately, there is no way to make split pea soup look appetizing!

Turkey Spaghetti Pie

ahh, well here is one you DON'T want to make :)  we had hiked this day and i was starving.  good thing i had a big salad!  it's not that it was terrible.  it was edible.  it didn't look very appetizing.  and it was just ok.  i didn't even save the leftovers, so that tells you something!  so i'll share the recipe just in case anyone is curious, but really...don't waste your time!  turkey spaghetti pie

 

Banana Pancakes & Banana Cream Pie

last night we had a pajama party at my friend jojo's house.  we had breakfast for dinner!  i didn't take any pictures, but stole these pictures off of allrecipes which is where i got the recipes for the pancakes and the pie.  the pancakes were AWESOME.  so was the pie!

Banana Pancakes 
6 servings 

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 ripe bananas, mashed

1. Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil and bananas.
2. Stir flour mixture into banana mixture; batter will be slightly lumpy.
3. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides; serve hot.

 

 we served the pancakes with a fruit salad and maple sausage links.  YUM!

for some reason, i felt the need to also make a pie to enjoy after this already sweet and already banana-y dinner.  and in looking for something to whip up really quickly, i found this banana cream pie recipe.  i had everything i needed on hand and it was super easy.  i did NOT have a refrigerated pie crust on hand, and since i refuse to make pie crust, i just made a delicious graham cracker crust.

Banana Cream Pie 

8 servings

3/4 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

3 egg yolks, beaten

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked

4 bananas, sliced

1. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, and salt. Add milk in gradually while stirring gently. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is bubbly. Keep stirring and cook for about 2 more minutes, and then remove from the burner. 

2. Stir a small quantity of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the rest of the hot mixture. Cook for 2 more minutes; remember to keep stirring. Remove the mixture from the stove, and add butter and vanilla. Stir until the whole thing has a smooth consistency. 

3. Slice bananas into the cooled baked pastry shell. Top with pudding mixture. 

4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes. Chill for an hour. 

it was fabulous!

fyi

tonight we had some friends stay over for dinner and i threw together a big salad for us mommas.  i used the leftover flank steak from the other night and thinly sliced it.  tossed it together with some carrots, avocado, tomatoes, walnuts and a sesame ginger salad dressing and it was pretty good!  so were the weirdo wine spritzers we made to go with it!

Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi

tonight was supposed to be leftover night. then i saw the mahi mahi that i had defrosted and not used on sunday. so, i knew i needed to use that tonight. i went to allrecipes and i think this was one of the first results of my search for mahi mahi. and i had everything i needed on hand, so it was perfect.

so SIMPLE. and the girls loved it. i served it with oven roasted butternut squash and a salad.

Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi
serves 4

3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
1 clove garlic, crushed or to taste
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 (6 ounce) mahi mahi fillets
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil


1. In a shallow glass dish, stir together the honey, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, ginger, garlic and olive oil. Season fish fillets with salt and pepper, and place them into the dish. If the fillets have skin on them, place them skin side down. Cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes to marinate.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove fish from the dish, and reserve marinade. Fry fish for 4 to 6 minutes on each side, turning only once, until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove fillets to a serving platter and keep warm.
3. Pour reserved marinade into the skillet, and heat over medium heat until the mixture reduces to a glaze consistently. Spoon glaze over fish, and serve immediately.

*i'm actually out of balsamic vinegar, but used cider vinegar instead

eating my words

regarding the quesadillas from last night?  well, i logged the recipe into my online food diary and OMG.  no wonder the woman wanted me to use reduced fat cheese and sour cream!  this recipe was NOT healthy at all.  not sure how it would be with the reduced fat ingredients, probably better, but i expected this to be a lot healthier than it ended up being.  so, that pretty much seals the deal...not making that one again!  i'm even going to take the "healthy" label off of that recipe!

Quesadillas (with Butternut Squash) and Santa Fe Rice Salad

i never really try to trick my kids into eating anything.  well, i may call couscous "rice" or call canteloupe "orange watermelon".  but, as far as hiding veggies in meals...i've just never tried it.  and tonight's meal was an attempt at that.  at least, that is the point of the cookbook Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld.  i was more focused on the "new" recipe that was different and healthy.  and it sounded fun to make.

i thought the quesadillas were really good!  kaia gagged down one sixth of one.  layla pretty much ate all of hers, picking out the chicken along the way.  so, i suppose, in all honesty, i wouldn't make them again.  i'm relatively certain that kevin would balk at a quesadilla with beans and butternut squash instead of cheese as the filling (sorry honey!).  and there's nothing quite as enjoyable as watching your 4 year old literally gag while eating the dinner you just spent however long making.  of course, layla was not able to weigh in verbally, but i imagine if she could have she'd have said something along the lines of "what's wrong with the warm cheesey goodness that we usually find in our quesadillas?"  so, you see where my motivation to repeat tonight's meal might be lacking.  slightly.

also, a lot of prep for this recipe (i know!  they're just quesadillas!)  i did it all earlier this morning, so putting the quesadillas together tonight was relatively quick.  but, you do have to cook and puree a butternut squash and also cook some chicken to slice up (or puree, you know, if you're feeling really masochistic).


the santa fe rice recipe is a repeat for us.  it comes from allrecipes.  i love it.  the kids picked out the avocados and the rice and left the rest.

Quesadillas

serves 4 people

nonstick cooking spray
1 T olive oil
1/2 pound chicken cutlets or boneless chicken breast, rinsed and dried
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp chili powder, or to taste
1/2 cup canned navy beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/2 cup butternut squash puree
1/2 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
4 (8 inch) whole wheat tortillas
1/2 cup bottled salsa

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat.  When the pan is hot, add the oil.  Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper and chili powder, add it to the pan, and cook until no longer pink in the center, 4 to 5 minutes per side for cutlets.  For chicken breast, cook 5 minutes per side, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 9 to 10 minutes longer.  Cut the chicken into thin slices, or puree it if necessary.
3. In a small bowl or mini-chopper, mash the beans with the sour cream.  In another bowl, stir together the butternut squash puree and the cheese.
4. Spread the bean mixture over two of the tortillas, then arrange the chicken slices or spread the pureed chicken on top.  Spread the cheese mixture over the other two tortillas and press one of each together to form sandwiches.  Place on the baking sheet and bake until the tortillas are crisp, 5 to 6 minutes.  Cut into wedges and serve with salsa.

my notes:
*i just cut 2 chicken breast in half horizontally to get "cutlets" (one was enough for both quesadillas for us)
*i don't use reduced fat anything

Santa Fe Rice Salad

6 servings

2/3 cup uncooked white rice
1 1/3 cups water
3/4 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1 large tomato, seeded and diced
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup vinegar
1 T diced jalapeno pepper
1/2 tsp white sugar
salt to taste
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

1. In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and chill.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the rice, beans, tomato, cheese and green onion.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, peppers, sugar and salt. Pour over the rice mixture and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate salad for 30 minutes. Top with avocado just before serving.

my notes:
* i use brown rice and cook according to package directions
*no need to seed tomato
*decrease cheese to 1/2 cup
*decrease vegetable oil to 1/4 cup
*i used diced green chiles for the girls instead of jalapeno
*only used 1/2 avocado, but it was huge

Southeast Asian Grilled Flank Steak

tonight's meal comes to us courtesy of Cooking Light. i love Cooking Light! it was super simple (hm, common theme?) and totally tasty! i was completely convinced that my girls would not eat it. i knew they would eat the rice and the broccoli, but the flank steak marinade was pretty spicy! kaia loved it? toddlers are SO unpredictable. layla ate one bite of the steak and started screaming. i guess it WAS too spicy for her. but this is the girl who ate a mango habanero hot wing when she was 9 months old. she may be traumatizzed :).

a couple of things to keep in mind with this recipe: flank steak is not the best cut of meat, so a few things are critical:
1. marinade at LEAST 24 hours. mine marinated more like 36 hours and it was super tender.
2. do not overcook
3. cut it against the grain

Southeast Asian Grilled Flank Steak
Cooking Light July 2008

1 T sugar
3 T fresh lime juice
1 T fish sauce
2 tsp Sriracha (hot chili sauce)
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound flank steak, trimmed
cooking spray
1/4 tsp salt

1. Combine first six ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add steak; seal and marinate in refrigerator 24 hours, turning occasionally.
2. Prepare grill to medium-high heat.
3. Remove steak from marinade; discard marinade.
4. Place steak on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove steak from grill; sprinkle with salt. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut across grain into thin slices.

Yeild: 4 servings

served with: brown rice with sauteed zucchini and green onions and also steamed broccoli

my notes:
*i did not have enough limes, so i used half lemon juice, it was still good!
*i didn't grill the steak on the outside grill, but used my grill pan on the stove
*i did not use the salt it calls for at the end. the meat has so much flavor! i can't really see why this would be necessary?

anyway, i'd totally make it again.