#50 Big, Thick, Hearty Thighs and That's a Compliment

Ha! The title of this recipe cracks me up. Look at those big, thick, hearty thighs!

 I like what I see here; chicken, potatoes, and french baguette.

The meal was easy peasy to make. The thighs were indeed thick and hearty, as well as moist and delicious. Served with a side salad and some baguette this meal was a huge success! Probably the best received meal yet. So yes, yes, yes to this in our future. Tomorrow is a variation, I hope it is as good as tonight's.
-Mom

I liked the chicken, loved the fruit. -DD
It was really, really good. -The Boy

And on the cleaning front, the rest of my e-cloth products arrived today. Happy Dance!

#49 Pasta with Swiss Chard, Bacon, and Lemony Ricotta Cheese

Houston, we have a dilemma. We had to skip #48. I really did not want to but it was made with puff pastries. There are no gluten free puff pastries available on the market and to make them from scratch takes HOURS and HOURS of dedication to get them to turn out right. In the words of Sweet Brown, "Ain't nobody got time for that!"
So unless someone makes some gluten free puff pastry or I can find it at a store, we are going to have to pass on #48. Oh darn, we had to have bacon tonight. :D

 I snagged a leaf of swill chard from my momma and daddio's garden. The onion came from the Kid's Garden. And then there was BACON!

 Scrumptious bacon, chard pasta on a bed of lemony ricotta cheese. WINNER! I have a big bowl of leftovers which have my name on them. We will definitely make this one again.
-Mom

Dinner was AWESOME SAUCE! I think I may have put in a little too much ricotta because it was pretty cheesy, but still it was YUMMY! -DD

Side note- The first of my e-cloth products arrived this afternoon. My new dusting cloths. I decided to tackle my bedroom fan since it had not been dusted in ???? who knows how long, if ever. They are amazing!

 I was having so much fun that DD had to go try one out on the kitchen fan. YEAH!!

 Who knew dusting could make me happy? I can not wait for my other products to arrive. :D

#46 Prosciutto, Garlic and Herb Cheese-Stuffed Chicken with Herb Pan Sauce

 No vegetables. Happy daughter.

 Stuffed chicken, never done in this house before but it was done tonight. Those breasts were smashed, prosciutto and some tasty cheese. They were rolled and cooked up.

 Tarragon was the herb the recipe called for but I could not find it so I substituted some herbs I did have and the sauce turned out awesome.

Stuffed chicken! It was really good but it was difficult to determine when the chicken was cooked through. We ended up needing to cook it longer. We will make it again but make sure to use a meat thermometer to ensure it is cooked properly the first time.
-Mom

The first few bits that were actually cooked were awesome and then I got to the part that was not cooked, not awesome.
-DD

#45 Sausage and Fennel Ragout with Creamy Polenta

We like sausage!

 I finally got smart and bought those potted herb plants in the produce section. I picked up parsley, thyme and rosemary. Such a huge difference to have fresh right from the counter-top. I misread the recipe at the store yesterday and I bought pancetta instead of polenta so I had to go back to the store today.
It was our first time using fennel. The boy was not too found of the smell when it was cooking. I thought it smelled delicious.

Appetizing to two out of the three consumers.
-Mom

I cooked the sausage. I think the polenta tasted like mac-n-cheese. Duh-lish-ous!
I also made chocolate pudding for dessert- DD

#44 Ricotta Smothered Mushroom "Burgers" with Sweet Onion Topping

 This one took some mental preparation before we could get the courage to make it. Well I was ready on Thursday when it was first scheduled but dear sweet daughter on the other hand, she could have waited forever. 

 Finally with the promise of BBQ chips and pomegranate she bucked up and got her done.

The onions were caramelized in tomato paste, this was a new thing.

I decided to go sans bun. This is one giant portabella smothered in ricotta cheese and topped with the onions. It was a rather dramatic dinner. Gagging; some legit while some forced. Yet miraculously they both got it down. Gladly took the BBQ chips and both proclaimed, NEVER AGAIN!
I am indifferent.  In my vegetarian days I had so yummy portabella burgers so I know never say never.
-Mom

Disgusting! Never again! Excuse me while I go eat my pomegranate, this is my kind of food. -DD

#43 Chicken in Spicy andSweet Onion Sauce with Goat Cheese Smashed Potatoes and Cucumbers

 Second verse same as the verse...change a few things and we have tonight's dinner.

 We swapped out the cider vinegar with white wine, I chose Moscato which was left over from my birthday. Added some red pepper flakes to the sauce and my personal favorite, we added goat cheese to the smashed potatoes.

A decent dinner. Something about the chicken was tough and chewy, maybe the wine, maybe not. The smashed potatoes were superb! Lastly, since no one cared for the watercress cucumbers with the dijon vinaigrette, we ditched it and went with cucumbers sliced and salted. It was a good swap, Little Miss could not stop eating them.
-Mom

Chicken was tough. Smashed potatoes were yet again delicious and the cucumbers tasted like pickles, not bad at all. -DD

#42 Cider Vinegar Chicken with Smashed Potatoes and a Watercress and Cucumber Salad

Yeah, meat! So already this recipe was better than yesterday.

The potatoes were given to me by one of our community gardeners. I know I had honey in the house but it went MIA. I looked everywhere for it. In the end I substituted agave which turned out just fine.

 Yummy yum yum! This one gets thumbs up from me. Moist, flavorful. Easy. I do prefer sour cream smashed potatoes over half and half but they were still good. The salad got mixed reviews. I was the only one who really cared for it and even I was not a fan of watercress.
-Mom

So good. I love her smashed potatoes and her chicken was good. The watercress in the salad had a funny taste but the cucumbers were good plain. I would make it again just without the onions. :) -DD

#41 Mostly Green Curry Veggies and Tofu

It's my birthday! Over the weekend we ate at some delicious places for my birthday. My main birthday dinner was at Meat, a fabulous restaurant in Old Town that specializes in food for carnivores. So. Good! We went on Sunday though since they were closed on Monday. Which left Monday open for cooking a meal.

Since my household loves meat we were all a little skeptical about this vegetarian dish. As my daughter would say, tofu torture. I served it up with a smile. I was optimist for birthday sakes.

It is official, we are not fans of tofu. Also official, most of my household has no desire to ever be a vegetarian. Sorry dad! Without the tofu it was a decent dish of curry. With the tofu it was belch.  Even the dog did not like it. I offered her the leftovers she took one bite of tofu and walked away. She walked away people. ;)
Thankfully we had brownies and mint chocolate chip ice cream for my birthday dessert, which we served IMMEDIATELY after dinner.
:D- Mom

I WILL NEVER BE A VEGETARIAN! Tofu is pure torture. My dog will eat ANYTHING if she won't eat it, than you know it must be something really bad. -DD

#40 Mostly Green Curry Chicken over CoconutS Jasmine Rice

Rachael has this one listed as MYOTO Make Your Own Take Out. I like Chinese food and take out so this one made me happy.

This one was called mostly green as most of the add-ins are the color green. My arch nemesis as a child was green vegetables so younger me would have despised it on title alone. Oh, how I have grown. Special note: the green pepper, jalapeno, and onion were from the garden. :)

I thought it was great. Maybe a little less peas but great none the less. Thumbs up from me. Especially the rice which had a moist sweet taste.
-Mom

So good! Not all the vegetables though.-DD

#39 Pasta with Roasted Eggplant Sauce and Ricotta

 This year in the Kid's Club garden we grew eggplant. Beautiful purple globes. With the kids back to school the produce from the garden is up available to any one who will use it. So I used the eggplant for this recipe. Roasted with garlic and then pureed to make a vitamin rich sauce. Again with tomatoes fresh from the garden. It feels good to be using this produce to feed my family.

Sorry, poor camera quality. This was a day with no camera. Had to use DD's computer.

The ricotta. A bit of an education on the ricotta. Apparently it was suppose to be ricotta salata,which I did not even know existed. It is more of a crumble than traditional ricotta. In the end I used plain ricotta and it was fine.

This picture was taken with my old phone.

Delicious! So good I did make it again for a garden potluck. By having the ricotta on the side and using gluten free noodles. It made it a nice gluten free and vegan potluck meal. With the ricotta optional. I of course would add the ricotta.-Mom

I was surprised that the roasted eggplant tasted so good. I tried a piece before we pureed it as I had never had eggplant to my knowledge. Not bad. -DD

#38 Grilled Flank (Sirloin Tip) Steak Sandwich with Arugula and Pears

Steak! I like steak.

We had leftover arugula salad so we just used it. It was after we finished cooking that I realized we were suppose to  switch out the cheese from parmigiano-reggiano to blue cheese crumble. Oops.

The meat was suppose to be flank steak so I sent the boy out to the meat freezer and told him to look for flank. He could not find flank but brought back a few different steak varieties for me to use instead. With a freezer still well stocked I was not going to go buy flank. Not going to do it!
I went with sirloin tip. It grilled up nicely.

Then we sliced it against the grain. Yum! We made one sandwich each and then ate the remaining steak on the side. I am not sure if steak was ever intended to be a sandwich.
-Mom

I skipped the arugula salad. But I like steak! -DD

#37 Warm Lemon Chicken Sandwich with Arugula and Pears

This one called for kaiser rolls, to make it gluten free we switched kaiser out for Udi's classic french dinner rolls. To toast them I butterflied them and put them in the toaster. They worked great. I will use these in the future for picnic, mini subs.

The chicken, lemon fresh and moist. The arugula, I am not sure if it was out of season so more bitter than normal or if we are not necessarily arugula fans. Overall, the sandwich was good.
-Mom

Not a fan of the arugula.-DD

#36 BLT Pasta Bake: Bacon Leek and Tomatoes

BLT- Traditionally this would stand for bacon, lettuce and tomatoes. But in this recipe it stands for bacon, leek and tomatoes.

It was similar to a mac-n-cheese as it started with a rue. Yet it had the additions of the BLT and then baked afterwards.

Great flavor. Nice texture.  More fresh from the garden tomatoes.
-Mom

Bacon, yum. Leeks, not bad. Tomatoes, not the best in pasta. -DD

#35 Sauteed Sweet Chicken Breasts with Spicy Fresh Tomato Chutney and White Rice

What happened?
The short of it is this, my computer got wonky. My camera went missing for a couple days and I had to rely on my hubby, which delayed things. Within a few short days I got out of rhythm.
I am sorry. We were still cooking, taking pictures, and eating meals. Now I shall attempt to get them posted here in the blogosphere.

Those tomatoes in the picture, fresh from my garden. The honey jar, currently MIA.

This chicken was sweet and moist. A great combination of flavors. I would happily eat it again.
-Mom

I was not sure about the sauce so this is what my plate looked like.

It was good. -DD

#33 Three Beans and Some Chicken

Pancetta in the house!  When I say that I exaggerate the HOWWWSSE.
With pancetta in the house we were good to go for number 33.

The chicken did a quick marinade in some lemon juice, oil and thyme while we started on the bean dish. Unfortunately,  my dash of red pepper flakes turned into a dump of red peppers into our dish. I was able to get most of it out but maybe not enough. Oops!

The chicken cooked up nicely and we finished up the  bean dish which ended up being four beans instead of three since I used the three bean salad from Aldis and still added the cannellini. It worked well once rinsed.

The dish really was fabulous albeit spicy. Everyone needs a good nasal cleansing every once in awhile. I still went back for seconds even though it had heat.
Momma liked it,
-Mom

The chicken was good dipped in the bean sauce, the beans were SO spicy it was crazy and I also did not like them because the beans did not taste right to me.
The dish was pretty good (well except for the beans, and the spiciness of the beans) :D
-DD

Pictures coming....

#34 Sweet Sausages Braised in Onions with Horseradish Smashed Potatoes

A pro of having hubby home is no leftovers. A con of having hubby home is that he sometimes eats ingredients that are vital to a recipe. Pancetta made it's way to a pizza that hubby made for sweet girl. I really can not be too upset. He was trying to be helpful. However, it did mess up plans for #33. Yet we need to eat so we moved on to number 34. Sweet sausage and smashed potatoes, yes please!

I was not too certain about the horseradish in the smashed potatoes so I started out with a small amount. DD insisted on more, and then even more still. It was great!

The sausages braised in a sweet onion mixture making the end result a scrumptious combination of flavors. The onions themselves were amazing!

This meal was a total hit! Can I have it again tomorrow?
-Mom

It was really good! The smashed potatoes were a little  plain but that worked because they tamed the sausage. Thumbs up!
-DD

Dad left the SD card at work, pics will be posted tomorrow.

#32 Ribollita con Verdure

A variation!
Added some veggies, pancetta, and red wine. Switched out chicken broth with beef broth.

A key part of these soups is stale bread. Now it is somewhat difficult to get stale gluten free bread. I decided to toast it and added it directly to the soup as instructed for the last recipe. This time I toasted it and added it as more of a crouton. This was how the family preferred it. Agreed.

This one is also topped with raw onion.
Good stuff! We finished it in one setting.
-Mom

DD has a double ear infection. :(
She did not feel much like cooking or eating. Hoping she feels better soon.

#31 Papa al Pomodoro

 Another title that leaves you wondering what exactly will you be eating. In English this is a tomato based soup with strict instructions that it must be eaten with raw onions.

 Rather simple preparations; chop, saute, mix, cook and top with raw onions.

See Rachael, we added the raw onion. It is legit. We did Torello proud.
It was fantastic! A new winter go-to discovered.
-Mom

It was a soup, do I need to say more?
-DD

#30 Paella Burgers and Spanish Fries with Pimiento Mayonnaise

 Busy weekend! We had a nice get together with our old neighbors in their new home. Then today we were babysitting 4 minions in their home. We managed to make it home in time tonight to make recipe #30. Woot woot!

 This burger had an unusual combination of flavors; ground chicken, chorizo, and shrimp.
I made the mistake of not draining the pimiento before making teh dressing. It came out a little running but tasty.

I liked this chicken burger better than the previous one. The additional flavors were a nice addition. The shrimp was perfect. I still prefer beef over chicken.
-Mom

This one was good, much better than the other chicken burger. I skipped the shrimp. And the fries were awesome!
-DD

#29 Beef Fajita Burgers with Seared Peppers and Onions

 This originally called for making both beef and chicken fajita burgers for the same meal but let's be realistic, the kids and I do not eat THAT MUCH. Since we like beef better than chicken we made a decision and ditched the chicken burger. Tomorrow is a kind of chicken burger so I don't feel bad.

 The burger master did her thing with the beef while I cut up and seared the peppers and onions.
We went with toasted Schar GF Ciabatta Rolls for the the bun. They were an excellent choice,

Served with a side of Kettle Sweet Onion chips and a dill pickle, this one was a home run.

Tonight I will be taking my first ever trip to Ikea. Canton here we come!
-Mom

I REALLY like this one. It was delicious.
-The Burger Master