Please forgive me for posting this absolutely emotional mouth vomit two week ago and then going into hiding.
I had basically retreated inside my head to do a lot of heavy thinking about the best course of action to treat the issues I posted about.
I decided it would be helpful for me to journal, but that maybe other people could relate or benefit from my experiences, so I decided to blog. Which led me to question if I should blog here or elsewhere about recovering from those issues. This blog was intended to discover new hobbies and passions, or rediscover old ones. It was never intended to turn into a weight loss memoir. So, I've started a new blog: Healing Hunger. All of my weight loss/overeating/recovery musings will go there. Here, at Passion & Zest, you'll continue to find recipes and recipe reviews, updates on new activities I've tried, and eventually a slew of photography. (As I'll be getting a new camera for Christmas!) And maybe some random posts about fun, interesting, or miscellaneous topics.
It might sound a little confusing, or messy, but I'm confident it will all play out just fine soon enough.
As for what to expect to see here, well, with Thanksgiving coming I will be baking up a storm. I'll be sure to take some pictures (via my phone) and post recipes while I work on those. There may also be a few new recipes I'm trying for myself thanks to Emily Bites and SkinnyTaste.
I'll be making a variation on this delicious looking Chicken Rollatini tomorrow night. It looks like the stuffed shells I made last week, but, with chicken instead of shells. I will certainly let you know how it comes out!
Showing posts with label Emily Bites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emily Bites. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Pumpkin Party, part 2
Remember all that pumpkin pancake goodness from yesterday? It's time to fill you in the rest of the dishes from Sunday.
Dinner was fantastic! I made Sausage and Pumpkin Pasta from Emily Bites. I was going to make it on Saturday but realized I was out of chicken broth. (Yes, I had pumpkin, but no chicken broth. I had used it all up with some wonton soup on Friday night - recipe to come when perfected.) So I made chicken broth. But it had just finished brothesizing, when I was coerced into going out. Then it got left for Sunday.
Okay, Sunday. Lazy day of fakely being snowed in. Time to whip out the broth and make some pumpkiny pasta. I won't repost the recipe, as you can find it on Emily's blog. However, I did make a few changes based on what I actually had on hand:
Emily says the original recipe from Taste of Home says you can substitute extra chicken broth for the wine, but she recommends not doing so because of the flavor profile the wine brought to the dish. I almost made the substitution, thinking I didn't have any wine on hand. (Travesty! I know. I need to head to my local wine store and stock up.) But then I remembered I had a couple of bottles from my trip to the vineyards.
Dinner was fantastic! I made Sausage and Pumpkin Pasta from Emily Bites. I was going to make it on Saturday but realized I was out of chicken broth. (Yes, I had pumpkin, but no chicken broth. I had used it all up with some wonton soup on Friday night - recipe to come when perfected.) So I made chicken broth. But it had just finished brothesizing, when I was coerced into going out. Then it got left for Sunday.
Okay, Sunday. Lazy day of fakely being snowed in. Time to whip out the broth and make some pumpkiny pasta. I won't repost the recipe, as you can find it on Emily's blog. However, I did make a few changes based on what I actually had on hand:
- rosé instead of white wine
- regular pork sausage instead of turkey
- spinach instead of mushrooms
Emily says the original recipe from Taste of Home says you can substitute extra chicken broth for the wine, but she recommends not doing so because of the flavor profile the wine brought to the dish. I almost made the substitution, thinking I didn't have any wine on hand. (Travesty! I know. I need to head to my local wine store and stock up.) But then I remembered I had a couple of bottles from my trip to the vineyards.
I am so glad I used wine!
Emily knows what she's talking about. The wine (even though I went with a dry rosé instead of a sweet wine) really helped make the flavor of the sauce. I can't imagine not using it (though I'll try it again with different wines). It gave it a nice tang to contrast the pumpkin. The other essential part of this recipe, in my very humble opinion, is the sage. Wow. Seriously, just wow. It just made the sauce. And it made my taste buds very happy.
The final pumpkin dish of the day was from Skinny Taste: Low-fat Pumpkin Spiced Chocolate Chip Cookies. One word: yum! Okay, that was a pretty lame word. I can't even begin to describe how good this cookie dough the cookies are. I'm not sure how accurate Gina's serving count is because I doubled the recipe, made 25 cookies, and ate lots of cookie dough. (I wanted to bring 2 dozen to work, and I ate 1 off the first batch, so I added an extra to the second batch. But then I had 2 more before I came to work, so... whatever, there were still plenty!)
No pictures, sorry. But my coworkers loved them. Lots of happy tummies around here!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Cheeseburger Pizza with a Shiraz Cabernet
The cooking this week has not been what it should. I would have loved to prepare things Sunday. Instead, I made dinner for my boyfriend and I on Sunday, had it for lunch twice, but that was enough. I still have leftovers, but I'm kinda over them. Mostly, I've been eating out. But when the boyfriend came over for our usual Wednesday night dinner at home date, I cooked. I made Cheeseburger Pizza, which I adapted from one of my favorite food blogs, Emily Bites.
This is kind of a 2 step process. Rather than using Laughing Cow, which I don't love, I made my own cheese sauce. I'm going to list that as a separate recipe, because I ended up using only half. The rest will go over macaroni or something tonight.
Mozzarella-Provolone Cheese Sauce
4 servings * 2 WW P+ per serving
Ingredients:
1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 c 1% milk
1 Tbsp flour
1/2 c Sargento Shredded Mozzarella & Provolone mix (feel free to use other cheeses, I wanted a mild flavor for the pizza base, and this was awesome!)
2 tsp garlic powder
Start by melting the butter over medium heat. Before it browns, add half of the milk and all of the flour. Whisk until it thickens, then add cheese. Continue to whisk until cheese is mixed in. It will be stringy. Add the remaining milk in a slow stream, whisking constantly until it reaches a thinner, spreadable consistency.
Okay, so now let's put together this pizza.
Cheeseburger Pizza
6 servings * 8 WW P+ per serving
1/2 of above cheese sauce (i.e. 2 servings)
12 oz whole wheat pizza dough (I used fresh, from the refrigerated section of the grocery store)
1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup Vidalia onion, chopped
8 oz 93% lean ground beef
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
~ 1/2 Tbsp ketchup
~ 1/2 Tbsp mustard
1 scallion
1/2 cup shredded cheddar (I used Sargento, again.)
Preheat oven to 450*.
First, melt the butter in a pan. When melted, add onions and cook until golden. Add beef. Season with garlic and Cajun seasoning. Cook until brown, then add Worcestershire sauce.
When the beef is cooked, we need to move onto the dough. I decided to use fresh this time because I didn't love the Boboli crust the few times I've used it. Joke's on me. The fresh tasted pretty similar to Boboli. Next time I'll either have to find a really delicious dough, or just save the time and effort and use Boboli. (I grew up in NJ, just outside NYC. I'm verrrry particular about my pizza crust.)
Anyway, this is what the dough looked like when it came out of the bag. I decided to set the pizza pan on the stove, and the dough on the pan, to let it warm up, for easier spreading. Flattening it and spreading it out was still pretty tricky, so I can't imagine what it would have been like had I used it at refrigerator temp.
So, I spread the dough as best I could using a combination of my trusty rolling pin and my own two hands. It didn't quite reach the edges of the pan, but I decided it was good enough to get to work.
Once your dough is spread on the pan (or if you're using ready-to-go crust), the fun begins. Spread the dough with the cheese sauce. I didn't want to thick of a base, so I went with a nice thin layer. Then I dumped the beef on top.
Using that trusty spoon, spread the beef out to cover the cheese sauce. (I'll admit, the rest of this may be out of order because I, um, forgot the CHEESE part of my CHEESEburger pizza. In the end it was still delicious, so let's pretend this was done on purpose.) Once the beef is spread out, grab your mustard and ketchup. I went back and forth with each about 4 times. You can do more or less based on your tastes, but I found I got a really good flavor from this. Then top with scallions.
I criss-crossed the condiments because that's what Emily had told me to do the first time I made her pizza. I wondered what the point of criss-crossing was, and decided it must be for looks. Which is when I realized I'd left off the cheese and thus the pattern of the condiments didn't matter. Eh, whatever. Looks pretty here, right?
Then I topped it with 1/2 cup shredded cheddar and baked at 450* for about 20 minutes. You want the cheese melted and browned and the crust golden.
And viola! The finished product.
Would have been prettier with better lighting and the condiments on top, but whatreyagonnado? I will tell you it tasted delicious!
Especially paired with
Because Shiraz Cabernet is delicious. And who doesn't love little penguins? (Plus a bargain price at the International Food Warehouse.)
This is kind of a 2 step process. Rather than using Laughing Cow, which I don't love, I made my own cheese sauce. I'm going to list that as a separate recipe, because I ended up using only half. The rest will go over macaroni or something tonight.
Mozzarella-Provolone Cheese Sauce
4 servings * 2 WW P+ per serving
Ingredients:
1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 c 1% milk
1 Tbsp flour
1/2 c Sargento Shredded Mozzarella & Provolone mix (feel free to use other cheeses, I wanted a mild flavor for the pizza base, and this was awesome!)
2 tsp garlic powder
Start by melting the butter over medium heat. Before it browns, add half of the milk and all of the flour. Whisk until it thickens, then add cheese. Continue to whisk until cheese is mixed in. It will be stringy. Add the remaining milk in a slow stream, whisking constantly until it reaches a thinner, spreadable consistency.
Okay, so now let's put together this pizza.
Cheeseburger Pizza
6 servings * 8 WW P+ per serving
1/2 of above cheese sauce (i.e. 2 servings)
12 oz whole wheat pizza dough (I used fresh, from the refrigerated section of the grocery store)
1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup Vidalia onion, chopped
8 oz 93% lean ground beef
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
~ 1/2 Tbsp ketchup
~ 1/2 Tbsp mustard
1 scallion
1/2 cup shredded cheddar (I used Sargento, again.)
Preheat oven to 450*.
First, melt the butter in a pan. When melted, add onions and cook until golden. Add beef. Season with garlic and Cajun seasoning. Cook until brown, then add Worcestershire sauce.
When the beef is cooked, we need to move onto the dough. I decided to use fresh this time because I didn't love the Boboli crust the few times I've used it. Joke's on me. The fresh tasted pretty similar to Boboli. Next time I'll either have to find a really delicious dough, or just save the time and effort and use Boboli. (I grew up in NJ, just outside NYC. I'm verrrry particular about my pizza crust.)
Anyway, this is what the dough looked like when it came out of the bag. I decided to set the pizza pan on the stove, and the dough on the pan, to let it warm up, for easier spreading. Flattening it and spreading it out was still pretty tricky, so I can't imagine what it would have been like had I used it at refrigerator temp.
So, I spread the dough as best I could using a combination of my trusty rolling pin and my own two hands. It didn't quite reach the edges of the pan, but I decided it was good enough to get to work.
Once your dough is spread on the pan (or if you're using ready-to-go crust), the fun begins. Spread the dough with the cheese sauce. I didn't want to thick of a base, so I went with a nice thin layer. Then I dumped the beef on top.
Using that trusty spoon, spread the beef out to cover the cheese sauce. (I'll admit, the rest of this may be out of order because I, um, forgot the CHEESE part of my CHEESEburger pizza. In the end it was still delicious, so let's pretend this was done on purpose.) Once the beef is spread out, grab your mustard and ketchup. I went back and forth with each about 4 times. You can do more or less based on your tastes, but I found I got a really good flavor from this. Then top with scallions.
I criss-crossed the condiments because that's what Emily had told me to do the first time I made her pizza. I wondered what the point of criss-crossing was, and decided it must be for looks. Which is when I realized I'd left off the cheese and thus the pattern of the condiments didn't matter. Eh, whatever. Looks pretty here, right?
Then I topped it with 1/2 cup shredded cheddar and baked at 450* for about 20 minutes. You want the cheese melted and browned and the crust golden.
And viola! The finished product.
Would have been prettier with better lighting and the condiments on top, but whatreyagonnado? I will tell you it tasted delicious!
Especially paired with
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