Finally - she returns!

For the handful of you who still check in to this blog - thank you. So sorry it's been a few months since I've posted anything - I ran into a few problems at the beginning of February. To make a long story short, I've been diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer. That this has been a huge shock is an understatement - our lives have been totally turned upside down. I'm currently going through chemotherapy and am doing very well - the treatment seems to be working! I am very hopeful at this point and have received so much love and support from family and friends. Also, please forgive any glaring errors in grammar and coherency because there really is a thing called "chemo brain" (although my husband thinks it's just my new convenient excuse :-) At any rate, my life has been crazy since then, but the good news is I finally have the time and energy to blog again!

So, earlier this year, I had decided to devote this blog to healthy, diet-friendly foods. Ha - forget that now. I may eventually rejoin the Tuesdays With Dorie gang (if I even can), but for now, I'll just check in with them now and then and make some super delicious treats once in a while. One thing about being blessed with all those wonderfully caring friends and family - my family and I have been well fed. It's a well-known theory around these parts that enormous amounts of food can cure cancer. Good thing my mother bought us a freezer - we've already got enough in there to feed a small army. We won't have to worry about any kind of swine flu quarantine - we're set to eat like royalty for weeks! Needless to say, I haven't been cooking much since all this started. In the future, I think I'm going to feature some of the yummy things I've been getting.

Since yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, my sister made us her famous chicken tacos and I thought I'd start posting with that. Oh my, are they muy bueno!

Chicken Tacos

1 lb boneless chicken chicken breast

2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

1-2 tablespoons pineapple juice

3/4 cup terryaki sauce

fresh corn tortillas

vegetable oil

condiments: chopped tomatoes, chopped onions, lettuce, cheese, guacamole (recipe below), black beans (recipe below)

Combine first six ingredients into a gallon-sized ziploc bag and marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.

Cook on the grill.

Meanwhile, fry the tortillas in a small amount of vegetable oil using tongs to hold the tortillas open (fry one side at a time).

You can always just use store bought corn tacos, of course (you could also use flour tortillas). When the chicken is done, slice thinly and serve with the toppings. Enjoy with a large margarita!

Guacamole

2 ripe avocados

1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro

1/4 finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

salt to taste

Mash all ingredients together and serve immediately.

Black Beans

1 can black beans, drained

1-2 teaspoons dried cumin

1/2 - 1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 - 1 teaspoon chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and heat. All of the spices are to taste - if you like spicy stuff, you can add some red chili pepper instead of the chili powder.

The Main Course

From Saturday's dinner, that is. Here is the recipe for the delish Flank Steak Marinade from my brother-in-law Dave (but it's called Julie's - how confusing?!)

Julie’s Flank Steak Marinade

6 cloves garlic minced
3 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1.5 tbsp ground pepper. (I didn't use this much - maybe 2 tsp or so)
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup olive oil
5 tbsp honey (maybe a bit more)

Optional:
Shredded ginger
Green onions




I used this recipe for about 3 pounds of flank steak and, in hind sight, I should have doubled it (but I didn't have enough honey or soy sauce for that). I put the steaks and marinade, sans optional stuff, into a gallon sized ziploc bag and parked it in the fridge for about six hours. The flavor was great and not over-powering in the least. I guess if you let it sit overnight, the flavors would be stronger, but that's definitely not necessary.

Unfortunately, our grill is on it's last legs and we can only cook on half of the surface. They took a realllllly long time to cook and weren't ready when our guests arrived. Luckily, I knew they'd be forgiving :-) I handed them each a glass of wine and we listened to the ever-effervescent Katherine while we waited - luckily, they only took about 10 minutes more (this is after being on the grill for 20 already - painfully slow!).



Fortunately for us, I think we will be inheriting a really nice, almost brand new grill from my sister-in-law Karen and her husband Richard (did I marry into a great family or what - recipes, grills and so much more!). We just aren't sure when they'll be able to deliver it (or when we might be able to get it) - but I suppose I've got all fall and winter to get it here before the next grilling season strikes up again.

As for the side items for our meal, we had Three Cheese Garlic Scalloped Potatoes and Strawberry Spinach Salad. (didja see? didja see? I figured out how to link within the text!!!!! You can click on those and they'll take you to the recipes!)

For the potatoes, I doubled the recipe which I baked in a 13x9 casserole. Other changes: I only used two cheeses (cheddar and parmesan) and after reading some tips in the comments section, I substituted 1 cup of low-fat milk and 1 cup of low-fat sour cream for the heavy cream (if only making one recipe, use 1/2 cup each).


The proper tool for this job: a mandolin or food processor). I honestly don't think I'd ever make scalloped potatoes without one, they make the cutting potatoes job go so fast! It also works great for apple pie.



Oh, and completely ignore the times on there. Mine took 2 hours to cook and it really needed to sit for 20 minutes or so to set up.

This was taken at 1 and a half hours in, definitely needs more time. I was kind of worried about how soupy they looked, but after a few minutes on the table, they were much more solid.




These were fabulous and everyone (and I mean even the kids) wanted seconds, so make plenty!

What's for dinner tonight, Mom?

This is what I made for dinner last night. The recipe is from Kraft (for the Food and Family magazine) and was very easy to do and the kids generally love kabobs (meat on a stick - fun, right?). The most difficult part is trying not to puncture your fingers during assembly (trust me, I speak from experience, this really hurts!).

The husband really liked it (but he likes almost everything, so his vote is always kind of taken for granted) and the youngest kiddos liked it (ages 3 and 1) - me and the older 2 (ages 10 and 8), not so much. I really think the chicken should be marinated and I got a great marinade recipe from my sister last month which uses terryaki and pineapple juice that I will try. I guess I thought it was only ok - but really, I should know by now (because I've tried quite a few of these Kraft recipes, some pretty good, others, eh) not to expect great flavor from something that only calls for BBQ sauce and OJ concentrate. But anyway, it was fast and easy and they sure looked nice. That red pepper, on which I spent (and I hate to even type this, because it is so ridiculous) $2.50 for (yes, on just one!) really makes the kabobs look so purdy, don't you think. And I just love grilled red pepper - yum! (this is Kraft's picture, as I forgot to snap one of mine when they came off the grill, but they looked pretty much the same)






Here's the recipe:

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/sweet-bbq-chicken-kabobs-92092.aspx

Substitutions: The recipe calls for Kraft BBQ sauce, which I am not particularly fond of, so I used Sweet Baby Rays; and I used canned pineapple chunks instead of fresh.

PS (are there ps's in blogging?): I sure wish I knew HTML and could write the words something like this :

You can find the recipe here

where when you click "here", you go to the website above. Someday, and someday soon, I hope to learn how to do that!