Empty the Produce Drawer Soup

Yet another recipe that came about in an attempt to use up my fresh produce before it went bad.  I've learned it's not only fun, but also thrifty to be creative with what you already have on hand.  Less food waste (something I really can't stand to do!) and less money spent on my grocery bill (something I really love!)  I've nicknamed this "Empty the Produce Drawer Soup" because that's basically how this came about.

I pulled all of the ingredients above out of the produce drawer, pantry or freezer and decided to put them all together.  Once again, I did not follow a formal recipe and kind of made it up as I went.  I figured, sautee the veggies, throw them all together and add some chicken stock, noodles and toasted baugette...all sounds good to me!

A variety of veggies chopped and ready to be cooked up

Let me say one thing about this bench scrape...I love it!  I have been wanting one for years to make it easier to pick up and move my chopped foods from the cutting board to the pot or pan.  My mother-in-law got me one for Christmas and it is silly how happy it makes me when I am chopping veggies.  As I say, sometimes it's the simple things in life that can make you happy.

What else makes me happy?  The gorgeous brown color on these mushrooms...YUM!

Ingredients:

• **Again, this is loosey-goosey.  Feel free to use the method and whatever ingredients YOU like or have on hand.**  This is what I did for this particular meal.
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 packages of baby portobello mushrooms, wiped clean and chopped
• PRO TIP: Do NOT rinse mushrooms under running water.  This will make them taste rubbery.  Most mushrooms from the grocery store are pretty clean already. I just use a damp paper towel and wipe them off a bit.
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• 1/2 cup canned corn
• 1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 small zucchini, chopped
• 2 cups packed spinach
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• Parsley
• Thyme (couple of springs)
• EVOO
• S&P
• Crushed red pepper flakes (however spicy you want to make it)
• 1 box unsalted chicken stock
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 package whole wheat egg noodles
• French bread

Instructions:

• In the bottom of a large pot, over medium high heat, add enough EVOO to coat the bottom of the pot
• Add the mushrooms and cook until deep brown (see above photo).  PRO TIP: Do not add salt yet! Salt draws the liquid out of the mushrooms which will make it take longer for them to brown.
• Add the onions into the pot after the mushrooms are browned.  Cook for about 5 minutes.
• Add the carrot, celery, corn, zucchini, garlic and beans.  At this point you can season everything with S&P and the red pepper flakes.
• Cook everything together until tender, about 5 minutes if you chopped everything small.
• De-glaze the pot with white wine.  Let wine cook off for 1-2 minutes.
• Add your herbs and spinach, stir.
• Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer.
• I cooked my egg noodles right in the pot of simmering veggies and stock.  Add water if you need more liquid.
• Cook noodles about 8 minutes or until al dente.
• Right before you serve I add a squeeze of fresh lemon to brighten it up.
• This night I had leftover French bread I pulled out of the freezer and made giant garlic "croutons" to eat with my soup.

Dropped those noodles right into the big pot of soup to cook.  No sense dirtying another pot just for the noodles!

I topped with chopped parsley and a little bit of Parmesan cheese when I served this. This is also a delicious meat free meal.  Feel free to use vegetable stock to make this totally vegetarian!

This also freezes well.  I made a giant batch and froze about half of it to have during a busy week when I don't have time to cook.  This way I can avoid calling the pizza delivery man and have something healthy and quick on hand!

Workout Wednesday - T25 Speed 1.0

Today's workout is actually one of my favorites: T25 Alpha Speed 1.0.  Why is it my favorite?  I get a couple "breaks" when I get to do the moves that focus on stretching. It's a lovely break from the jumping around and it lets me catch my breath...just a little.

I also like most of the exercises in this routine so the time seems to go faster.  All the workouts are only 25 minutes but let me tell you, that ab workout seems to take FOREVER. No abs live here but I'm working on it!

This workout incorporates speed and stretching so it's a good mix.  By the time I even glanced at the countdown clock in the corner of the screen I was already more than halfway through my 25 minutes.  Yes!

What kind of moves did I do?  Here's a Burpee + Alternating Kick.  This gets the heart rate up!

Want an honest moment?  Well, I actually have two to share.

Number 1: I've never shared a picture or video of myself working out without a tank top on. But you just get so sweaty with these exercises, I thought, screw it!  One less piece of dirty laundry for me to wash this weekend.  A personal brave moment for myself.

Number 2: After this workout I ate a bowl of healthy homemade soup...

and then...

a piece of cake.

Oooops.

The cake is almost gone though and I swear my husband will be the one to finish that last piece!  I will RESIST!

Taco Frittata

A couple weeks ago I was looking for a healthy breakfast/lunch option.  Once again, I wanted to use what I had in the fridge.  I came up with this version of a frittata.  I made frittatas for the first time a couple years ago.  I invited some family over for an Easter brunch and made two different versions.  They came out so delicious and it was much easier than I thought!  Ever since then I've had this in my repertoire of go-to dishes. Each one is always slightly different depending on what ingredients I have around but the process is the same. I love when I learn a new method and can reuse it over and over without following an exact recipe.

The short version is, you sautee whatever ingredients you want, mix it up with eggs and cheese and bake off in the oven until set.  This version I started with a base of leftover ground turkey from taco night.  I also had some other veggies laying around I wanted to use up so I tossed those together and made this taco frittata.

Chopping zucchini, onion and parsley

Got some nice brown color on that zucchini before I mixed it with everything else

Same for the corn!  I like to get some carmelization/browning happening for added flavor.

Ingredients:

• Leftover ground turkey, already spiced up taco style
• 1 can of corn
• A couple of small zucchinis, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 eggs
• 6 egg whites
• Flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Sharp cheddar cheese
• Paprika
• Cumin
• Chili powder
• Cayenne
• Salsa
• S&P
• EVOO

Eggs with spices and parsely

Eggs with all ingredients mixed in

Pour it back into that pan

Instructions:

• Preheat over to 350 degrees.
• In an oven safe, non-stick skillet, over medium high heat, drizzle some EVOO in the pan and sautee the onion until soft and slightly brown, about 5 minutes.
• Add corn and zucchini and sautee all together.
• Add the leftover ground turkey.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, add 2 eggs and 6 egg whites. (I used mostly egg whites because I wanted this to be healthier.  Feel free to use all whole eggs or just whites. You'll need enough eggs to cover the mixture in the pan.)
• Add a handful of chopped parsley if you like.  (I had some to use up and figured tossing it into the eggs was as good a place as any.)
• Season the eggs with at least 1/2 tsp. each paprika, cumin and chili powder.  As I always say, season to your own taste.  You may want more of a certain spice.  Go for it!
• Add a pinch of cayenne for added heat if you like.  S&P too!
• Pour your sauteed veggies into the large bowl of eggs and spices.  Mix well.  
• You can add some cheese here if you like to incorporate it into the mixture.
• Pour mixture back into non-stick pan and let cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
• Feel free to add some cheese to the top of the frittata at this point.
• Transfer pan into the oven and let cook for approx. 10-15 minutes until the center is set (no jiggling).

I like to eat mine hot but you can eat this cold or room temp.  I topped mine that day with salsa and a sprinkle of cheese.

I cooked mine in a 10" skillet and half was for breakfast and the other half was for lunch. Super filling, tasty and healthy!  Also a great way to empty the produce drawer and use up leftovers.

Just Try

A few things to please take note of...

I am not a professional trainer, nutritionist, chef or doctor.

I AM a home cook, someone who is trying different types of exercise and someone who is figuring out what works for ME.

Everyone and every BODY is different.  I hope my posts about food, exercise and life's simple pleasures inspire you or make you smile.  You don't need to follow a recipe exactly. If you don't like a certain spice or vegetable, leave it out!  If you know you can't do jumping lunges because you have a knee injury, please, sit that one out.  You do what works best for you.

But, try something new.  I tried radishes on my quest to expand my vegetable horizons and decided they're just not really for me.  On the other hand, roasted brussels sprouts surprised me with how delicious they are!  I've tried the rowing machine and decided that may be one of my least favorite machines at the gym.  The leg press machine?  No thank you!  But I'll get on the stair master and climb some stairs!

Failed cooking attempts?  Oh yes!  But it doesn't stop me from getting in there and trying. That's part of the fun of life.  You try, you learn, you may have some failures, but you'll also have successes!  All part of a happy life. 

Workout Wednesday - T25 Total Body Circuit

It's Wednesday and that means...WORKOUT WEDNESDAY!

Honestly, the main thing motivating me to get it done tonight was being able to post about it and say I DID IT.

Tonight's workout was T25 Total Body Circuit.  It's a complete body workout done in 25 minutes.  I was doing abs, legs, arms, shoulders, everything.  Honestly, it's not my favorite workout but I got it done and I am happy about that.

Let me tell you, the 180 degree squats + burpee move is HARD but I feel very impressed with myself when I accomplish a couple of those.  It's encouragement to keep going and get stronger.

Here's how I felt when I was done with the workout tonight...and I was thinking about what to eat for dinner, ha!

Here's a video of my attempt at a lunge squat progression.  Support please!  I haven't shared any video of myself working out before.  This is usually just entertainment for the cats or my dear husband. :)

  

Chicken Chili

A good handful of my recipes come from looking in the fridge and pantry and trying to think of something I can make with what I have already.  Ryan and I did some late night grocery shopping on a Sunday night and I knew I had a few things at home I wanted to use up.  I bought a few more ingredients while we were shopping and then came home and starting cooking chili at 8:30 at night.  This was kind of late for chili but I knew it would serve us well the next several days of a busy work week. 

PRO TIP: Ask your deli counter if they will mark down the rotisserie chickens if you're shopping late at night.  They can't sell those the next day so they'll probably offer a discount. I learned my store usually marks them down around 8:30pm.  I was an hour early but the manager went ahead and gave me the discount...$1.00 off.  Not major but I'll take it! :)

We got home with some fresh ingredients, including that discounted rotisserie chicken, and I started cooking.  I pulled the following items out of the fridge and pantry to use up:

• Bag of spinach
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 can of cannellini beans
• 1 can of corn
• Roasted red peppers (These were leftover from a pepper/olive spread from Christmas)
• Peppadew peppers (These too)
• 2 onions
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 box of low sodium chicken stock
• 1 can tomato sauce
• My normal spices I keep on hand (chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• EVOO
• S&P

Cooking with color!

Added those to my pile of ingredients I just bought at the grocery store:

• Rotisserie chicken
• 2 green peppers
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 can fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 can Rotel's Chili Fixin's

I like to call a meal like this a Chop & Drop.  You basically chop most of your ingredients and just drop them all into one big pot.  Simple!

Instructions:

• Get out your big pot...this makes a TON of food!
• Coat bottom of pan with EVOO and turn heat up to medium, medium high.
• Chop onions and drop into pot.  Let cook for about five minutes while you chop peppers and jalapeno.
• Drop in all the peppers and let those cook about five minutes.
• Add your garlic - I grate mine right into the pot.
• Drain and rinse both cans of beans and the can of corn.
• **Sometimes I like to put my corn into a small pan on really high heat with some EVOO and give it a good char, get some brown color on there before I add it to the chili.  Other times I just dump it in.**
• Drop the beans and corn into the big pot.
• Season all liberally with S&P, chili powder, cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper.  I don't have exact measurements here as I season to my personal taste.  You can start small and add more later as you taste to get it to where you like it.  Start with 1/2 a tablespoon of each, except for the cayenne unless you like it hot!
• **This time I had some Louisiana Cajun seasoning and added some of that as well for extra heat.**
• I degalzed the pot with about 1/2 a cup of white wine.  Let that cook off a few minutes.
• Add your "sauces" - The can of tomato sauce, Rotel's Chili Fixin's and can of fire roasted tomatoes.
• Stir around and season again if need be.
• I dumped in the whole bag of spinach at this point.  I had never done this before but I was looking to use that spinach up before it went bad and I figured it would add even more healthy nutrients to the pot.
• Pour in the whole box of chicken stock and stir together. 
• At this point I knocked the heat back to medium-low and started tearing up that rotisserie chicken with my hands.
• I added the pieces of chicken, shredding with my hands as I went, into that big pot of goodness.
• Let simmer and taste for seasonings.  I thought my batch needed a little more of everything so I added some more S&P and the spices.

I like to add a dollop of sour cream and a squeeze of lime when I serve this...and a couple crushed up tortilla chips for crunch.  Maybe a splash of Crystal hot sauce for added spice. This made a HUGE batch of food.  It lasted most of the week with Ryan and I both eating it for lunch at work and quick weeknight dinners.  It tasted even better as the week went on and the flavors hung out together.  We probably got around 8 servings of chili from this batch.

Another great thing about it?  It was super healthy without tasting like "health food."  Chock full of veggies and protein from the beans AND chicken.  Want to make it vegetarian? Leave out the chicken and use veggie stock in place of the chicken stock.  You've still got a nutritious bowl of goodness.  You can feel good about eating seconds!

If you're not going to eat it all within a few days, put some in a freezer ziploc bag and store it in the freezer for an easy meal at a later date.  I store all my leftover liquids in large freezer bags and lay them flat so I can stack them on top of each other and save space in my freezer.  Enjoy!

Workout Wednesday

I am creating Workout Wednesday for myself and you, my readers.  It is a way to keep me accountable so I stick with my exercise routine.  I've realized that post-holidays, I've been blogging all about food.  Delicious food that I love to eat, but I wanted to share some more of what I also spend my time doing.  

I'm currently trying to get my butt back into some semblance of a consistent exercise routine.  This is in an effort to shake those post-holiday pounds and the I-ate-one-too-many-OK-really-50-too-many-cookies-and-my-jeans-are-tighter-than-they-were-in-October feeling.

I am breaking out the T25 DVDs.  What is T25 you ask?  It's a Beachbody workout program that I fell in love with when I first tried it last August.  The workouts are short and to the point.  I always get my heart rate up and the further I get into the program, the stronger and healthier I feel.  I'm trying to reclaim that feeling of strength and accomplishment.

I'm inviting you along on my journey so you can watch my progress, my successes and my fails.  Let's be real...I'm a real person with real weaknesses.  Not some perfect fitness model who will kill each workout and happily drink green juice everyday.  I may falter along the way, but that's real life.  It's always a balance and I'm on a quest to rediscover the balance that works for me.

Christmas Menu

Here's an overview of what I served on Christmas Eve and Day.

Christmas Eve:

This night I was hosting 14 people at our house.  I didn't want to deal with making a big meal, heating up the house with the oven, dealing with dirty dishes, etc. so I decided on a heavy appetizer style dinner.  This worked out perfectly and there was plenty of food.  I also ditched the idea of real plates and silverware.  We got nice red paper plates and plastic silverware (that looked like real silverware) from the dollar store.  Cute napkins from the dollar store, as well as some festive serving trays.  We did use real wine glasses to drink out of.  The paper plates and plastic silverware saved a bunch of time and stress and made clean up a breeze.

I did manage to get a couple quick photos of this as people started eating.

• Deviled eggs
• Buffalo chicken dip from Publix with tortilla chips (served warm)
• Veggie tray with Dill Dip (baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumber)
• BBQ Keilbasa
• Chicken Wings (four different flavors - these came from my local Winn Dixie and were delicious!)
• Various cookies and brownies
• BYOB (Pro Tip: If you're hosting people at your house and they ask what can they bring, tell them!  In my case, I knew my audience well and told everyone to bring alcohol.  That's a huge expense and instead of stressing about you having what people like to drink, ask them to bring their own.  Saves you time, money and stress...win!)

Christmas Morning

Family was on their own to make cereal, bagels, toast, etc.  Bloody Mary's and mimosas were started.  I did bake off some cinnamon rolls but this time was reserved for presents, spending time with family, enjoying the morning.

Christmas Dinner:

Appetizers

• Crostini with three cheese spreads (I made the crostinis by toasting up some slices of french bread, rubbing with fresh garlic and drizzling with EVOO)
• Garlic and herb
• Sun dried tomato and basil
• Smokey jalapeno
• (*All three cheese spreads were the Alouette brand from the grocery store.  I'm telling you, for big holidays, take some help from the grocery store where you can get it!  Not everything needs to be made from scratch.)
• Olive, cheese, pepperoni and crackers tray (no cooking required!)

Dinner

• Crispy Chicken (breaded and shallow fried with seasoned bread crumbs and parm cheese - This chicken was so pretty I'm going to re-make it for another post so you can see the photos!)
• Meatballs
• Spinach Artichoke Penne
• Sausage Rigatoni Bake
• Roasted Vegetables (mushrooms, asparagus and tomatoes)
• Garlic Knots
• Additional sauce and fresh Parm cheese
• BYOB continues :)

Dessert

• Even more Christmas cookies!
• Brownies
• Chocolate and vanilla ice cream

Christmas Rewind

7 days into the New Year and I'm finally getting a moment to sit down and write about the whirlwind that was Christmas!  In typical Casey fashion, I had a long list written out of all the things to get done before family started coming in that week.  The weekend before the week of Christmas, I sat down and made even more detailed lists....what I had to get done on each day leading up to December 25th.

Yes, I am a bit of a list fanatic but two things will happen if I don't write this stuff down:  

• #1 I'll forget it 
• #2 It won't get done.

So I had my lists made and I was feeling a little better about it all, especially since my parents came in a day earlier than I thought to help me out with week of preparations.

A nod to the lists, the same thing I did for Thanksgiving...I pulled out all my serving stuff and labeled everything so I knew in advance I had room for what I needed.

Additional prep work consisted of:

• Finalizing Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus
• Shopping the weekend before for items that I could get in advance
• Shopping again the week of and day of for items I needed to wait on (fresh French bread, herbs, bags of ice, etc.)
• Pulling out all the china and silverware, making sure it's clean and I had enough for everyone
• Making two separate grocery lists to coordinate with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus
• Clean, clean, clean the house!
• Extra linens and pillows
• Renting a mattress for extra sleeping space for guests
• Finish decorating
• The list goes on...and thankfully it's all done!

Now we move on to prepping what food we could cook or bake in advance.  I can't begin to explain the whirlwind of the week but I'll just say I was unable to/forgot to take photos of all my finished food. Sad face.  According to my family, it all looked and tasted wonderful. You'll have to use your imaginations. :)

I did manage to get a few photos of my prep work for one of the dishes.  

Oh!  You should know, my family does a slightly different take on the "traditional" Christmas meal.  If you didn't see my previous post about this, we basically do a different theme each year because my mom didn't want to repeat the turkey we all just ate a month ago.  I am continuing this tradition.

So, back to my one dish I took some prep photos of...Spicy Turkey Sausage Rigatoni.  This is basically a version of baked ziti.

CHEESE:  Yes please!

Rigatoni: fat, friendly, short cut pasta

Spicy turkey sausage getting all browned up

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of rigatoni
• 1 pound of spicy Italian turkey sausage 
• Parmesan and Ricotta cheeses - I didn't measure this, use as much cheese as you want!  I think I used roughly 1/2 cup Parm and 16 oz. Ricotta
• Tomato sauce - I made my own but feel free to use your own recipe or (gasp!) the sauce from a jar (I do this often, no worries!)
• EVOO
• Crushed red pepper

Instructions:

• Heat large pan over medium high heat.  Add roughly 1-2 Tbsp. EVOO. Remove sausage from it's casing and crumble into pan.  Cook sausage until brown.
• Meanwhile boil the rigatoni and drain it just shy of "al dente" (that means done "to the teeth" or where you like it since it will cook more in the oven)
• Put the rigatoni back into hot pot and mix with the browned ground sausage, Parmesan and ricotta cheeses.  
• Add tomato sauce (roughly 1 cup, just eyeball it and add more if you want it saucier) and stir.  You can add crushed red pepper if you want more heat.
• In a large baking dish, put a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the dish, then pour in that cheesy, delicious pasta mixture.
• **If you're prepping this ahead, this is where you stop.  I stopped here on the 23rd so it was done in advance and I just baked it off on the 25th.**
• **If you're serving that night, top with some more grated Parm, pop into 350 degree oven and bake until cheese melts and it's all bubbly.
• **If you're prepping ahead, let cool completely, cover with foil and put into fridge.  Day of, take it out of the fridge and bring back to room temp.  Top with cheese and bake off at 350 degrees until warm through and cheese is melty.

Fun little story: 
I live in central Florida...
Where we don't get "winter"...
Where Christmas Day was 85+ degrees...
When I had lots of bodies in my house, drinking all day, putting off heat...
When the AC froze over and the temp inside the house got HOT...
When my brother and husband spent a good hour plus in the garage blowing hair dryers inside the AC to melt the ice (the only ice in Florida!)...
When the AC still didn't work after that...
When my brother found an AC guy to come out on CHRISTMAS DAY to try and fix it...
When I just re-filled my wine glass and stayed away because I couldn't deal with this...
When my oven was 350 degrees to cook dinner for 12 people...making the house hotter...
When the grumpy AC guy left and manged to do some sort of "hot wiring" to make it turn on again (Christmas freakin' miracle!)...
When I tried not to be too upset about it all and still managed to get hot dinner on the table for everyone...
When everyone loved my food...
When I loved everyone and said so at the table and started crying because I was happy...
When at the end of a long, full day of food, wine, laughter, some stress, fun, games, love and more, my husband and I finally had a quiet moment to ourselves to reflect on the 1st Christmas in our 1st home...
Ah, holidays and family.  There's nothing quite like it!

Crinkle Cookies

Crinkle cookies...a tradition I've continued with my own family.  I had actually never had these cookies until spending a Christmas with my husband's family is Missouri a few years ago.  They were so good I had to ask my mother-in-law for the recipe.  Since then, I make them each year at Christmas, although I don't know why I save them for just once a year!  I love the idea of continuing on a tradition...even something as simple as a certain type of Christmas cookie.

I didn't manage to get a photo of them before they were all eaten in the mad rush of Christmas but here's what the finished product looks like thanks to a Google image search: COOKIES

Recipe my mother-in-law typed for me, complete with my scribbles, chocolate stains and flour from previous baking adventures.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Powdered sugar

Oil and sugar combined

Instructions:

• Melt chocolate - I do this in the microwave 30 seconds at a time.  Be careful not to burn it!  If you're a double boiler type of chocolate-melter, have at it!
• Combine melted chocolate in a large bowl with oil and sugar.
• Add eggs one at a time, beat well with electric mixer - I use a hand held mixer.
• Add vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, combine your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt.  I do not own a sifter so I just use a whisk to "sift" the dry ingredients together.
• Add dry ingredients to chocolate mixture.  Mix well.
• Cover bowl and chill dough for at least 2 hours.
• After dough is chilled, fill a separate bowl with powdered sugar.
• Drop a tablespoon of dough in powdered sugar and roll to coat. Head's up, this gets your hands messy but it's fun!
• Place on greased or non-stick cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

I like to put my eggs in a small bowl separately before adding them to the wet mixture.  If a shell gets in there it's much easier to get out of the small bowl of eggs only.

Looking all glossy after adding those eggs!

Adding dry to wet

All mixed up, making a mess on the recipe paper

Per my mother-in-law's recipe this makes 8 dozen cookies if you make them small (teaspoon sized).  I make them larger and I think I got about 30-40 cookies out of this. When I make these cookies for just my husband and I, I split the recipe in half (see scribbles).  Since we hosted Christmas this year for 12 people (plus gave some away as gifts to my neighbors, I made the whole recipe).