Slimfast vs. Take-Out?

The Strawberries ‘n Cream Slimfast in my cabinet at work did not appeal to me today. In fact, I find that flavor repulsive. It doesn’t taste like real strawberries, and the only way to consume an entire can is to refrigerate it to near freezing and then chug it all down as quickly as possible. The grocery store was out of my usual Milk Chocolate flavor, so I decided against my best judgment to try something new. Unfortunately, I got stuck with a whole 6-pack of the nasty stuff.

I hope the people at Unilever are reading this. If so, listen up: diet food won’t appeal to anyone unless it tastes good! Not so good as to make you want to consume the entire 6-serving package all at once, mind you. Just good enough to make me want to eat it again will do. I crave chocolate on a daily basis, so they did make a wise choice in using that flavor in their products.

Because I avoided the Slimfast today, I decided to try a new Vietnamese restaurant near my place of business. I wish I had taken my camera with me today so I could show you all how good the presentation was, albeit was in a Styrofoam box. I guess that is my excuse to eat there again. Perhaps I will have to try each dish on the menu, in order to get pictures of them all… hmmm… that’s a concept… I will have to think on that a bit… Well, here's my review of the restaurant:

The Rice Box on Hwy 10 in Ramsey, MN is definitely worth a try, if you like Vietnamese food – or just Asian, in general. The menu has a wide selection of dishes ranging from mild to spicy, with traditional foods like lemongrass and of course things that anyone would recognize such as sweet and sour chicken. There is a definite emphasis on “fresh” in the wording of their menu, and the dish I ordered was awesome in that aspect.

The typical Styrofoam to-go box was half-full of a divine sweet and sour chicken in a sauce that I would describe as light and not too sweet, with the perfect balance of acidic tartness one would expect in a sweet and sour. The chicken strips are all-white breast meat, lightly battered and fried, although not greasy at all – they must have actually drained off the fat! Large chunks of fresh pineapple and green pepper are added to the mix. The other half of the box contained a generous portion of white rice and a very fresh salad of lettuce, tomato and sliced mild white onion. I could live on egg rolls, so of course I ordered one on the side, and that was great, too – with the thin, crispy shell fried till golden but not overdone. The interior was not the bland, flavorless egg roll filling that you might expect from a grocery store deli or a frozen, pre-packaged product, but this was really good, the kind of flavor that can’t be reproduced en masse from a factory kitchen.
Not to mention that the service was fast and friendly. I will definitely go there again. Of course I have to – I did promise pictures, right?

About That Jello Recipe...

As "They" say, there is always room for Jello.

My Mother-in-Law almost always has jello prepared; I believe one could drop in, unannounced, and she would be able to serve a lunch at the drop of a hat that would be inevitably followed by some sort of Jello. One that is my favorite is made with pie filling, and ends up more like a dessert than a fruit salad, so I hesitate to call it such.

2 packages of cherry Jello
2 cans of cherry pie filling
1 tub of Cool Whip or the equivalent of real whipped cream

Prepare the jello according to the directions on the box, using the speed-set method (with ice-cubes). Remove any remaining ice, and thoroughly stir in pie filling. Pour into a 9x13 glass baking dish & refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until fully set-up. Top with Cool Whip & serve or refrigerate until you are ready to.

This one is very easy & can be made a day ahead of time if you are serving a crowd or have a potluck to go to!

Summer Dinners

2009_0621StrawberriesAndCBPie0010
Originally uploaded by suzukiQ

Yes, I will say it again. I am a slacker. And this is the reason why: I don't like to cook during the summer. I promise that if I cook something that requires a recipe, I will most certainly share it. As of late, our dinners look something like this. Toss a couple frozen, pre-formed burgers on the grill, boil some corn on the cob and add a salad. Voila! No recipe required.

But check back, I may still find some ambition to cook, you never know. I do have some really good recipes for jello... :)

Have a great weekend!

Chicken Enchiladas

My kids have grown, and so have their appetites. I can easily cut this recipe in half if it's just Hubby & me at home, but when the boys are around I usually have to double it!
Now before I get into this recipe, I know there are some pretty creative cooks out there, but one of my Google ads at the bottom of my blog reads "Dog Recipes". WHAT??? I sure hope they are referring to recipes for homemade doggy treats - the kind you give to your dog, not the kind made from your dog! If anyone knows, please tell me it's not the latter! Otherwise, please just keep quiet, Jasmine and D.O.G may just be reading your comments from besides me as I sit on the couch with my laptop... Eew! I don't even want to think about it!
Now this recipe is absolutely wonderful. And it contains NO dog :)

Chicken Enchiladas

1-2 green bell peppers
1 medium onion, chopped (this can be omitted if you dont like onion)
1/2 stalk of celery (about 2 cups), chopped
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces

In a large frying pan, fry the chicken in about 1-2 tablespoons of olive or vegetable oil, salt and pepper to taste. Add the chopped veggies and sautee until the vegetables are only a little soft, they should still have some crunch left in them.

In a separate bowl, mix an 8-oz container of sour cream (light sour cream is ok) with a 16-oz. jar of prepared chicken or turkey gravy (or 2 cups of homemade).

Stir 4 tablespoons of the gravy/sour cream mixture into the chicken/vegetable combination.

Spoon about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the meat/vegetable mixture onto 10" flour tortillas. There is no need to fold over the ends. I prefer Reser's brand, because they are thin but don't rip apart. This recipe is better with a thin tortilla than with thick ones.

Line up the enchiladas in a microwave-safe glass baking dish as you roll them up. My microwave will accomodate a 9x13 baking pan, be sure to check yours before you fill the dish. This can also be baked in the oven for 30 minutes if you prefer. When all the enchiladas have been rolled up, pour the entire bowl of gravy/sour cream mixture over the top so that everything is covered. Cover the dish with saran wrap or a cover if you have one, and microwave on high for 10 minutes.

Remove from the microwave (or oven) and sprinkle an entire 8-oz. package of shredded Monterey Jack cheese over the top (I use a Mexican blend, sometimes the kind with jalapenos), and return to the microwave, uncovered, for 3 minutes longer, so cheese is melted.

For ease in serving, allow this to stand for about 3-5 minutes before dishing up.

I serve this with a lot of lettuce, tomatoes and salad-type veggies. Refried beans or Spanish rice are good on the side, too...

If you try any of the recipes on my blog, this one has to be it! It's one of my personal favorites :)

~Enjoy!

Simple Summer Stuff

I can't stand wasting a lot of time preparing food in the summer. Most of the meals we have are light and quick. A lot of evenings I say, "everyone is on their own for dinner tonight" - which means there are leftovers that need to be eaten or I know there's plenty of sandwich stuff that just needs to be put out. We still eat together as a family, but that's my way of letting everyone know that Mom's tired and I'm just not cooking!

One thing that I like to have on hand in the fridge to go with sandwiches is this recipe that came from my mom and my grandma. I don't know where it came from to begin with, but everyone loves this so I make it a lot during the summer. Not to mention that it's a great snack during the summer when cucumbers are fresh from the garden.

Creamy Garlic Cucumbers

3 cucumbers, peeled and sliced (1/8" to 1/4" thick slices - no thicker than that)
1 cup Miracle Whip (not mayo, you need that "tangy zip") - light is okay
1/2 tablespoon garlic salt (or more - to taste)

Mix everything together in a bowl with a lid and refrigerate for at least
1/2 hour before eating. The juice from the cucumbers will mix with the Miracle Whip & get creamier as it sits. This will keep in the fridge for about a week (ours never last that long).

Charlie Brown Pie

My youngest son turned 13 on June 16th. Man, do I feel old. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago when I turned 13; now my youngest kid is 13? When did that happen???

Well, anyway, we often times do not celebrate with the traditional birthday cake, since no one in our house is a huge fan of frosting. At least not the commercially-made stuff, for the most part. And of course, everyone knows that frosting can make or break a cake. So my not-so-little one chose a family favorite for his birthday: Charlie Brown Pie.

This concoction was a favorite of all the students at the elementary school which we both attended. It consisted of a graham cracker crust, chocolate pudding, followed by a layer of Cool Whip and then topped with chopped, salted, roasted peanuts; named for the Peanuts cartoon character whom we all loved and could identify with. I've seen similar recipes on the web, but this one doesn't have peanut butter in the graham cracker crust.

Charlie Brown Pie

2 packs of graham crackers (not 2 boxes, 2 of the packs that come in a box)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

2, 4-oz. boxes instant chocolate pudding

16-oz tub of Cool Whip, whipped cream or other whipped topping

1/2 cup roasted, salted peanuts, chopped

Put the graham crackers into a gallon-sized Ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin.

Mix sugar into crumbs. Add butter and mix well, then press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, then allow to cool completely.

Prepare pudding as directed on package for pie filling (the directions will call for less milk than if you are preparing the mix for pudding alone); then pour over graham cracker crust. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Top with whipped cream or whipped topping.

I do not put the chopped peanuts on top until we are ready to serve. This recipe is a great one to make ahead of time (like the day before) to share. If you refrigerate this overnight with the peanuts on top, they will get mushy - not good!

This recipe can easily be divided in half for a 9x9 square pan, if you are not serving a huge crowd - and it's great for summer, since your oven will only be on for a short while.

If you choose to add peanut butter to the crust, mix in about 1/2 cup or so, then refrigerate before adding the pudding - then you will not have to turn on the oven at all :)

The Best Lunch Ever!

Girlfriend time is important. It doesn't matter how old you are or how busy you get, you must make time for your girlfriends. My friend Diane & I had a girlfriend day today; she had a lot of plants to put into pots and the kids were at their dad's for the weekend. I simply had to go out to her place for a visit, so we made a day of it. We started out with a trip to the nursery in a neighboring town to pick up pots & had a great lunch of salad with yummy little croissant sandwiches before we got to work. The sandwiches were Diane's idea. Call it Divine Inspiration, but she said, "Oh! I know what we can do with these!" And before I knew it, she'd sliced one in half, added a dollop of fat-free vanilla yogurt and tossed in some berries. Voila! The perfect addition to a healthy salad - good for you and tasty, too.

The salad was just a mix of things from the produce section: Dole Greener Selection salad blend, organic yellow baby carrots, Cherubs cherry tomatoes, shredded colby cheese and sunflower seeds topped with a Kraft Fat-Free Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing. Then on the side we had a little more of the yogurt topped with the fresh berries. It was really filling for a salad! And of course, being a "girlfriends day", we had to have a glass or two - what the heck, a whole bottle - of Barefoot Pinot Grigio. If you haven't tried that one, I highly recommend it - it's a light, fruity wine that's good with a salad or just for drinking when you're out with the girls.

And guys, I'm not leaving you out, either - guy time is important, too - especially because it gives us girls a break :)