Sunday, September 30, 2007

Super Duper Zuppa


Tonight I made Super Duper Zuppa soup ... my take on Olive Gardens Zuppa. This soup will be wonderful in the winter time, it really warms you from the inside. Enjoy!

2 large sweet sausage links
3 cups kale
1/2 cup pasta
1/2 cup white beans , drained and rinsed
1 large potato, peeled and sliced
1 LARGE can chicken broth

Place sausage in a large pot with water, boil for 15 minutes. Take out the sausage and cut into small bite size pieces. Dump out the water and fill soup pot with chicken stock; add the potatoes, pasta, and cut up sausage. Once potatoes and pasta are tender add the kale and white beans; cook for a few minutes just until kale wilts.

Best Ever Apple Crisp


This is the best ever apple crisp recipe courtesy of my mom! I love it because you do NOT use rolled oats in the topping but a crumble instead! Mmmmmmm i just love the fall season!

Peel and thinly slice about 6 macintosh apples and place into a baking dish. Combine in a bowl: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 egg, and a dash of salt. Spread evenly over apples. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon. Melt 1 stick of butter and drizzle over the top. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream !

Quick Ideas for Next Weeks Menu

Parma Rosa Chicken:
Bread chicken breast in flour, egg, seasoned bread crumbs, pan fry in a little EVOO. Boil penne and toss with parma rosa sauce. On a small baking sheet add the chicken breast and shred some mozzarella cheese over top, stick in oven to melt. Serve chicken over pasta.

Rootbeer Pulled Pork

Chicken with Cider Bacon Sauce served over Rice

My Super Duper Zuppa Soup ... sausage, kale, potatoes, and white beans

Friday .... mini vacation to Indianapolis !!!! eating out in and getting to know our new home!

Slow Cooker Beef Sammie

Last week i made these pulled beef sandwiches that came out amazing !!!

Shoulder cut beef
water
salt and pepper
garlic
onions
george washington mix

chop onions into large chunks add to bottom of a large pot (of crock pot) along with garlic, place beef on top, season with s & p, and george washington mix, add water. Cook on stove top for 6 hours (remember to check water levels and add more as needed). When done trim fat and shred with two forks, stir in sweet baby rays BBQ sauace and cooking broth.

VOX question of the day about Halo 3

What I Made for Dinner last week ...

What i made for dinner this week: September 24 - 28.

Monday: On Monday Alex had softball until 7 when he got home we had dinner which consisted of spaghetti and meatballs (leftover from meatball subs we had last week).

MEATBALLS
1 lb (or a little more) meatloaf mix (beef, veal, pork)
1/2 C Italian bread crumbs
1 teaspoon dried parsley
a little chopped garlic
2 T parm cheese
1 egg

Form each meatball and place onto a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes then add to maraneria sauce and finish cooking.

Tuesday:
Alex worked tonight until 9 so we ate before he left at 5. Tonight we has sausage and peppers (well i had peppers and he just had the sausage).

Sausuage and Peppers
Itialian Sweet Sausage
1 bell pepper
1/2 onion

Saute onion and peppers in EVOO till crisp tender. In another skillet add enough water to cover 1/4 sausages. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Take sausage out and add to skillet wtih peppers and onions cook for another 15 minutes, browning on all sides. Serve on an Italian roll. (next time try with some marinara sauce)


Wednesday: Ahhhh ... i had a cold all week and all i wanted was some homemade chicken noodle soup ... but i has just made that last week when Alex has this lovely cold so i settled for chicken pot PIES, inspired by a similar dish Rachael Ray was making on 30 minute meals.

Sauce onions and carrots in EVOO; chop chicken and season with poulty seasoning and S & P, add to skillet and saute till brown. Push all to one side of pan and make a quick roux in the empty space. Wisk in chicken stock. Add a handful of frozen peas. Add a small amount of fat free half and half, simmer till thickened. Transfer to a baking ramican. Make pie crust and cover OR put a puff pastry sheet into equal squares and bake on an ungreased baking sheet (for this method spoon chicken mixture into dish and serve with puff pastry square on top).

Thursday: My favorite meal of the week!! Pork chops with apple raisin "salsa".

Pork Chops with Apple Raisin Salsa
2 center cut boneless pork chops
1 figi apple
1/2 cup apple cider
pinch cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins
1 T brown sugar
2 t maple syrup

Cut the apple into SMALL cubes. Add to a small skillet the apple, raisins, brown sugar, cinnamon, and apple cider (half). Simmer till cider reduces then add the other 1/4 cup of cider.

In a skillet heat about 2 T EVOO. Season pork chops on both sides with s & p. Cook chops on either side for 8 minutes (per side). Add a teaspoon on maple syrup to each chop and turn to coat, cook in syrup for about 2 minutes.

Serve with apple salsa on top.

Friday: Well it is Friday right now and it is almost 8 o'clock , so far this evening i made Alex a sandwich at 4 o'clock then we shared a piece of pumpkin cake i made earlier in the week (which i adapted to make low fat ... phew i'm glad that 40K diploma came in handy somewhere). I really wanted to make the Zuppa Tuscona soup tonight but Jer came to visit and Alex was not sure if we would be going out to eat or not so i never ended up making it .. on well maybe tomorrow.

THIS WEEK AT WORK :
Well this week at the lab i got a raise and promoted !! I am now the main chef and i oversee all of the research assistants. The recipes i made this week for the subjects are: the Tuna Burgers which are actually pretty good (recipe below), Ratautoulle (pounds and pounds of it !), Spinach and Beef Skillet (very good - recipe below), Pork Stir Fry ( a huge pain in the butt).

Tuna Burger (well at work i weight all ingredients out to grams so here in my estimate in cups and tablespoons)
1 can tuna packed in water DRAINED
2 T mayo
2 T egg whites
2 t mustard
1 t scallions
2 T bread crumbs

Form into patties, stick in the freezer for an hour then grill on George Foreman for 20 minutes.

Spinach and Beef Skillet
half a bell pepper cut into strips
1 t garlic
1 t EVOO
2 cups spinach
2 T scallions
2 T soy sauce
1 T water
1 T ketchup

Heat EVOO on large skillet, add garlic and pepper and saute until crisp-tender. Add the soy sauce and water and cook another 2 minutes. Add spinach and scallions just until wilted. Stir in ketchup. Serve over brown rice and top with thinly sliced grilled steak.

About Me

Hello fellow foodie bloggers. My name is Sarah and i will be Mrs. Alex P on May 10th :-) finally !! I am a Penn State Alum with a degree in Nutritional Science and the supervisor at the PSU Metabolic Diet Study Center. Alex and I will be moving to Avon, Indiana the end of May where he has accepted a job with QTG (Gatorade) and i will be job hunting (::sigh..:: i love my job now) but i am still very excited to move and me home owners :-) We have a almost three year old Maine Coon named Kinsey who is our little fur baby. I am so excited that i found my way onto The Nest's Whats Cookin' board because i have finally found a group of girls like me who love to cook and appease the hubs and share ideas about a common passion.

** Happy Cooking **