Weekend Recap/Get Fit for Vegas Week 1

This weekend was great. We were at home the WHOLE time! We got some errands done, cleaned the house and had a little date night. I also practiced some cupcakes for my niece’s birthday party in April.

Doesn’t Elmo look happy?

On another note – the first day of Get Fit for Vegas has been a failure! I’m blaming it on the spring forward daylight savings. It was SO dark this morning when my alarm went off at 4:45 am. We leave on vacation in just 9 short weeks and I really want to get in shape. If there is anywhere I know I will feel self conscious – it’s Vegas. I’m hoping to get 4-5 workouts in a week and am also trying to eat smaller portions (I like food way too much to really try and diet and cut out foods). Anyone else trying to get back into shape for the spring/summer? It’s hard to get back into the habit of working out. Let's hope my scheduled workout for tomorrow morning happens!  

Xoxo,

K

Shepherd's Pie

It’s finally March – the start of spring. Time to start putting away the heavy coats and snow boots, right?? Wrong. After having a pretty mild winter here in Chi-town Mother Nature has woken up and is bringing on the snow in full force. We have had more snow in the month of February than we had all winter! Another snow storm is headed our way tonight and all day tomorrow.  I hope this is the last of it. I’m so ready for warm weather and sunshine!

After a fun weekend P and I decided to hunker down last night and watch some movies and make a delicious comfort food classic – Shepherd’s Pie. I do have a confession – I’ve never actually had Shepherd’s Pie. P – being of Irish decent – is a big fan of the dish and I was hoping this recipe would not disappoint him!

Good News. It was delicious! One warning - this is definitely not a 30-minute weeknight meal. There are lots of prep and lots of ingredients. But the end result was super delicious and totally worth it.

Another great America’s Test Kitchen meal.

Shepherd's Pie

For the Potato Topping:

·         2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

·         4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

·         1/2 cup milk

·         1 large egg yolk

·         6 scallions, green parts only, sliced thin

For the Filling:

·         1 1/2 pounds 93 percent lean ground beef (don’t use anything with more fat here – the dish will get greasy)

·         2 tablespoons plus

·         2 teaspoons water

·         Salt and pepper

·         1/2 teaspoon baking soda

·         2 teaspoons vegetable oil

·         1 onion, chopped

·         4 ounces white mushrooms, trimmed and chopped

·         1 tablespoon tomato paste

·         2 garlic cloves, minced

·         2 tablespoons Red Wine (we used a cab)

·         2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

·         1 1/4cups beef broth

·         2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

·         Pinch of dried thyme

·         1 bay leaf

·         2 large carrots, peeled and chopped (make sure these are small or they won’t cook all the way through)

·         2 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Mix together beef with 2 tablespoons water, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and baking soda in bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside for 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place potatoes in pot; add water to just cover and 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain potatoes and return to the same pot used to cook them. Return pot to low heat and cook, shaking pot occasionally, until any surface moisture on potatoes has evaporated, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and use a potato ricer to mash potatoes. Stir in melted butter. Whisk together milk and egg yolk in small bowl and stir into potatoes. If needed - add additional milk to get to the desired consistency. Stir in scallions and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and set aside.

3. Heat oil in broiler-safe 10-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, mushrooms, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are just starting to soften and dark bits form on bottom of skillet, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and garlic; cook until bottom of skillet is dark brown, about 2 minutes. Add red wine and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until evaporated, about 1 minute. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Add broth, Worcestershire, thyme, bay leaf, and carrots; bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Reduce heat and tear off little chunks of the beef and place on top of the broth mixture. Cover the skillet and cook for 10 minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, break up the beef chunks into smaller pieces. Remove bay leaf. Stir cornstarch and remaining 2 teaspoons water together in bowl to make a slurry. Stir cornstarch mixture into filling and continue to simmer for 30 seconds.

4. Heat broiler. Place mashed potatoes in large zipper-lock bag and snip off 1 corner to create 1-inch opening. Pipe potatoes over filling mixture and smooth potatoes with a spatula, then use a fork to make ridges over surface. Place skillet under the broiler until potatoes are golden brown and crusty and filling is bubbly, 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool for before serving to avoid burning your mouth!

CHEERS!

Slightly adapted from America's Test Kitchen

Avocado Bruschetta Chicken

P was at his parents' house yesterday helping with a few things which meant I was on my own for dinner. I really like having a few dinners to myself to make delicious meals that P would NEVER eat. Most of the time that means Chinese food (either homemade or  - if I'm feeling really crazy - delicious, fatty take out) but tonight I wanted to go with something healthy. We are going to Puerto Vallarta for a little Valentine's Day trip next week and I am trying to eat as healthy as I can for the next week! Speaking of eating healthy...I have a new obsession - Chobani Bites.

To Die For. I'm almost done with my Coffee with Chocolate Bites and then I'll be onto the Raspberry and Dark Chocolate. YUM. And they are only 100 calories each! Perfect afternoon snack!

Now onto the recipe! It comes from one of my favorite food blogs - Iowa Girl Eats. She has great recipes and fitness tips - always an entertaining read!

Avocado Bruscetta Chicken

1 chicken breast (pounded thin)
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Trader Joes Bruschetta mix
1 Avocaodo (sliced)
Mozzarella Cheese (as much or as little as you want!)
Seasoned salt & pepper
Olive oil

Bring the balsamic vinegar to a simmer in a pot. Let this simer for about 20 minutes until it is reduced slightly and thickens.

Start heating a frying pan. Season the chicken breast with the seasoned salt and pepper and brush with olive oil. Cook the chicken breast for about 5 minutes on each side until cooked through. When chicken is cooked, place on a broiler safe dish (I use my Le Creuset baking dish) and put slices of avocado on top. Put a couple of tablespoons of the bruschetta mix on top of that and cover with 2-3 slices of mozzarella cheese (or you can use shredded mozz cheese).

Put under the broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Take out and splace on a bed of spinach. Drizzle the balsamic reduction over the chicken.

CHEERS!
K


Barely adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

Starting Over

I haven't posted on this blog in an entire year. I really had planned on keeping up with it and starting to get my recipes organized - but that failed. So...I'm trying again this year! I've been reading some amazing blogs lately and feel like this would be a great place to corral a lot of different topics - food, travel, workouts, beauty. Anything and everything.

Who knows...maybe I'll even get a follower this year :)


xoxo,
K

Super Bowl Beer Battered Cheese Curds

P worked in Madison, Wisconsin for awhile during our time right out of college. Madison was great - great weather (minus the winter!), tons to do, great college nightlife and of course...great food. Whenever we are in Wisconsin whether it be to visit Madison or go on vacation in Door County it is a requirement that we try the cheese curds at every restaurant we go to. Cheese curds sound gross. I never wanted to try them. But once you get past the "curd" part of it you will realize that these are delicious and glorious little nuggets of pure joy.

In preparation for the Super Bowl that's coming up we decided to try out a recipe for Beer Battered Cheese Curds. They turned out pretty good! Make sure you add plently of seasoning to the batter and serve with dipping sauces - ranch is my favorite :)

Beer Battered Cheese Curds

• 1 bottle + 1/4 of another bottle beer (we used our latest kegerator purchase Two Brothers Cane and Ebel)
• 2 cups flour
• Cayenne pepper (add as much or as little as you want!)
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 bag of cheese curds (the squeekier the better!)
• Vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients (not the curds or the oil) in a large bowl. It should end up being the consistency of thick pancake batter. Put in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat about 1/3 of a saucepan of vegetable oil to around 350 degrees.


Once the oil is ready, dump the curds into the batter and coat. Working in small batches (or they will stick together in a huge curd ball) drop the battered curds into the oil. Cook until browned on all sides. Put on paper towl lined platter. Make sure to let the oil get back up to 350 degrees before starting the next batch. Serve warm with dipping sauce.




CHEERS!!!


Adapted from Alton Brown



Kale Chips

Lately I've been trying to find a way to get more vegetables in my diet. P and I rarely make a vegetable side dish with our dinners - my dad would be so disappointed!! I came across this recipe for kale chips on a few different blogs. Apparently kale is a great source of vitamins and minerals - good thing for my diet plan! This recipe is so easy and tasty I actually made the chips on my lunch break from work!

Kale Chips

• Half a bundle of fresh kale
• Sea salt
• Olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a large cooking sheet with parchment paper. Chop kale into uniform-ish sized pieces (about the size of a normal chip). Put chopped kale in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and salt. Toss so all peices are covered with oil - adding more oil if necessary.

Roast kale for about 10 minutes - or until crunchy. Serve immediately - or kale will loose its crunch.



CHEERS!

Toffee Cheesecake

Sorry for the slight hiatus! We have been busy with wedding planning and just life in general. I have started cooking more - which usually means more misses than hits!

P decided last weekend that he wanted a cheesecake - more specifically a Heath toffee cheesecake. So I went to my go-to cheesecake recipe and adjusted it slightly and came out with a really good new recipe! It is super creamy with just a hint of toffee. It was so delicious!

Toffee Cheesecake 

For the crust:

• 12 chocolate graham crackers
• 5 Tbsp melted butter
• 1/4 tsp coarse salt
• 1/4 cup sugar

For the cake:

• 2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, softened
• 4 eggs, room temp
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup Heath toffee bits

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pulse graham crackers in a food processor until they turn into crumbs. Add sugar, salt and butter and mix together so all crumbs are moist. Spray a springform pan with flour spray and pour crumb mixture in. Using a glass, push crumb mixture into bottom and up sides of the pan. Put in the oven and bake for about 12-14 minutes, until set. Then let cool.

Bring oven heat down to 325 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil on the stove. Add cream cheese to your mixer and beat until creamy and smooth. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in salt and vanilla extract. Add eggs - one a a time - until just combined. Add sour cream and beat until combined. Pour in toffee bits and use a spoon to combine.

Wrap bottom of springform pan with foil so it is completely covered. Pour filling into pan and shake to even it out. Place the pan into a roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until the water hits half way up the springform pan. Bake for about 1 hour 45 minutes, just until the center is set (it will still jiggle slightly). Take the cake out of the water bath and let cool for 20 minutes. Place cake in refrigerator overnight to set.

CHEERS!

Adapted from Martha Stewart