Did someone say “food”?

I guess it’s a recipe kind of week!  This will be my second recipe guest post for the week!  Who doesn’t love food, though, right?  Skye, from First Time Mama – First Time Blogger is sharing some of her favorites below and boy do they sound delicious!  Incase you are not familiar with the lovely Skye, here is a quick recap:

- Wonderful Mama to the beautiful and adorable Julianna.
- Posts unbelievably cute photos of her little one.
- Photography lover and learner.
- Blogs about everyday life and experiences.

And, sorry to all the Bostonians out there, this mama is a Yankees fan!  Yeah I’m sneaky, I got this little tid bit of information from her About Me page.  You go Skye!

Okay, okay, onto Skye’s post!

Elena and her family are on vacation this week, and she asked me to be a guest poster! I was so excited... but of course I couldn't think of something to come up with. I finally decided on food. I haven't posted some of my favorite recipes lately... so why not now? I will also be on vacation for a few days, so this worked out well for me to post ahead. (You have to love the ability to post ahead in Blogger, right?!)

To be fair, none of these recipes are mine. I don't have any recipes that I came up with from scratch - I'm terrible. So, these recipes I' sharing were handed down to me from friends ... and their origins came from somewhere online... but I have made adjustments as well. And you should know I hate to cook - like totally hate it - but our family needs to eat, so I try to make it as easy as possible with something that always packs a punch. I can guarantee you that these recipes are super-easy to make!

Oh and, I don't take good food pictures, so I don't have much for you there... I kind of suck at that! So please just imagine these all in your head as you read!

Here are some of my favorite recipes lately 

Chipotle-Rubbed Flank Steak
Holy Mama - I love this recipe. I made it twice in the past 2 weeks. The gorgonzola sauce totally made this dish!

4 servings (serving size: 3 ounces steak and 3 tablespoons sauce)
Total: 25 Minutes

Ingredients
1 teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper (I had a hard time finding this, so I bought a McCormick   

southwest shaker in the spice section, the ingredients were chipotle chili pepper, garlic, salt. pepper- close enough!)

1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (1-pound) flank steak, trimmed
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2/3 cup 1% low-fat milk (I used fat-free milk and it did not make a difference)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1 teaspoon butter
2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler to high.

2. Combine first 3 ingredients. Sprinkle steak with chipotle mixture. Place on a broiler pan; broil 5 minutes on each side. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut thinly across grain.

3. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic; cook 1 minute. Add flour; cook 30 seconds, stirring. Add milk; boil. Cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat; stir in cheese and remaining ingredients. Eat.

 

I made Spanish rice to go with this steak meal, but white or brown rice would work just as well.

 

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Slow Simmered Meat Sauce

I just love this meat sauce recipe. We eat a lot of Italian food here, and this is right up there with my top 5 things that I make! Love it! My daughter loves it too! Serve with a nice Italian bread and salad.

8 servings (serving size: 1 cup pasta, 1 cup sauce, 2 tablespoons cheese, and 1 tablespoon basil)
Total: 8 Hours, 30 Minutes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrot
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 (4-ounce) links hot Italian sausage, casings removed (I use hot turkey sausage to cut down on fat - no change in taste at all)
1 pound ground sirloin
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
1/4 cup no-salt-added tomato paste
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (28-ounce) can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 cup no-salt-added tomato sauce  (I use my own home made tomato sauce here, but store bought would probably work the same)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
16 ounces uncooked pasta (I like this with spaghetti or big fat rigatoni's)
1/2 cup torn fresh basil
3 ounces shaved fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preparation

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and carrot to pan; sauté 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Place vegetable mixture in a 6-quart slow cooker. Add sausage and beef to skillet; sauté 6 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove beef mixture from skillet using a slotted spoon. Place beef mixture on a double layer of paper towels; drain. Add beef mixture to slow cooker. Stir olives and next 6 ingredients (through tomato sauce) into slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 8 hours. Stir in oregano.

2. Prepare pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Serve sauce with hot cooked pasta; top with basil and cheese. Eat.

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Walnut & Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken

This might be one of the best chicken dishes I have made in a while. My husband loves it. I was able to use fresh rosemary from our garden which made it even better!

 

4 servings (serving size: 1 cutlet)
Total: 30 Minutes

Ingredients

1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 (6-ounce) chicken cutlets (I use thin chicken breasts, not the thick ones.)
1/3 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts (I pounded them in a plastic bag so they were pretty fine; they stick easier to the chicken this way)
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
Rosemary leaves (optional)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Combine buttermilk and mustard in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk. Add chicken to buttermilk mixture, turning to coat.  

3. Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add panko to pan; cook 3 minutes or until golden, stirring frequently. Combine panko, nuts, and next 4 ingredients (through pepper) in a shallow dish. Remove chicken from buttermilk mixture; discard buttermilk mixture. Dredge chicken in panko mixture.

4. Arrange a wire rack on a large baking sheet; coat rack with cooking spray. Arrange chicken on rack; coat chicken with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 13 minutes or until chicken is done. Garnish with rosemary leaves, if desired. Eat.

(I do not have a wire cooking rack, so I placed the chicken in a long glass cooking dish, and it worked out great!)

 

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OK that's it for now. Please let me know if you try any of these recipes. They are all so tasty and wonderful! Let me know if you made any changes to accommodate your tastes - I would love to hear!

Have a fabulous day!