Monkey Bread "Lite"

We need to face reality, rarely do you find a recipe that is just like the real thing when there is "lite" in the name. If you are a monkey bread fan who does not care about calories then move on to your next activity, there's nothing for you here. If you are a fan of most sweet things but are trying to watch calories, sugar, fat, etc you might be interested in this recipe. Josh actually found this blog site and sent it on to me. I think the author's husband is in a similar field as Josh and he found him on a site they both use.  Anyway, I love Dashing Dish's philosophy and really appreciate her work to make healthier alternatives to the favorites. You might see some other recipes taken from her site in the future.  There are two great things I like about this recipe. The first is that the portions are made individual sizes so you know exactly how much to take for a serving. Second is that it is made with alternatives and did not require many "fancy" ingredients that I don't know where to immediately find at Meijer.
Visit Dashing Dish to find the Monkey Bread Lite recipe.

This photo is from DashingDish.com (I didn't have time to snap my own, we were headed out the door for a family get together).

I made this to bring to Easter with the family. I warned everybody I had not made this before and that it was a lighter alternative to the real thing. They were a hit (thankfully)! I recommend making extra of the syrup/butter sauce because I ran out about half way through my tray of 12. The sugar free maple syrup I used was pretty runny, I think a thicker syrup would help this recipe as well. Definitely going in the cook book to use in the future!

Chicken Marsala

I feel like I haven't had much time to blog lately with all the travel. While I was on my trip to Reno I went out to eat in Truckee, CA with some colleagues. It is a very cute little western town. We ate at a great restaurant that unfortunately I cannot remember the name of. This was our first meal in 3 days that didn't consist of appetizers, finger foods, hotel coffee, or Starbucks oatmeal so everything on the menu looked good. I needed advice. I asked the waitress if she were hypothetically from out of town and may never have the opportunity to come back and eat here again what she might order.  Chicken Marsala was on her list. Coincidentally it was in my top 3 choices so I went with it.  Excellent decision, it was so very good.  I've been craving it every day since so I decided to look up the recipe online.  I trust allrecipes.com so I went with this one:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour for coating
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded 1/4 inch thick
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup Marsala wine
• 1/4 cup cooking sherry

Directions

1. In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano. Coat chicken pieces in flour mixture.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter in oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the pan, and lightly brown. Turn over chicken pieces, and add mushrooms. Pour in wine and sherry. Cover skillet; simmer chicken 10 minutes, turning once, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 448 | Total Fat: 26.6g | Cholesterol: 99mg

I would give this recipe a A- for taste and an A+ for prep time. We're talking 15 minutes to a delicious meal. I paired it with angel hair pasta and a glass of Little Black Dress pinot grigio.

I have a lot of leftovers too!

Now as for my trip to Reno. Well... whatever image you have in your head of Reno, it is probably true. It lived up to every expectation that I had before I left.  Here is a picture of my hotel room:

But here is me at Lake Tahoe!

And here is me not getting run over by cars while standing in the middle of the main street in Reno to get my picture taken:

I'm so glad to be home.

The Kitchen Remodel

We're doing it! 2011 is the year of the kitchen remodel. We plan to start demo the first week of May. You haven't seen many pictures of my cabinets or counter tops because I'm not proud. Here is our current situation:

I didn't remove the clutter because there is always clutter due to lack of cabinets and no dishwasher. And that little guy standing in the middle, he gets to stay. Compare to picture #1 below.

Orange appliances = awesome. Compare to picture #2 below.

We will take everything out and the new layout will look something like this:

Picture #1

Picture #2

The cabinets will look something like this:

We'll add a few appliances that look like this:

And some counter tops that look like this (sort of):

We'll do most of the work ourselves with the help of Uncle Sean. I can't wait to get started!

Philly Steak Sandwiches

A friend at work said he read my blog, I said "My blog?! It's kinda girly." He said "Yes, can you make a manly stew or something?" So here is my attempt to man things up a little.

I originally found this recipe on thenest.com (not manly). Turns out it's really good! Similar in style to the pepperoncini beef sammies I posted a couple of weeks ago.

(professional photo)

Philly Steak Sandwich

Serves: 4

Ingredients
1 pound boneless beef sirloin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced
1/4 pound Swiss or provolone cheese, thinly sliced
4 soft hoagie rolls, split
Directions
1. Put the steak in the freezer for 30 to 45 minutes to firm up a bit; this makes it easier to slice very thinly. Using a sharp knife or meat slicer, shave the beef into ultra-thin slices, and then flatten it using a meat pounder.
2. In a bowl, combine the steak slices with the salt, pepper, paprika, and chili, onion, and garlic powders. Toss with your hands to coat evenly. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes or up to 2 hours.
3. Heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. When the pan or griddle is hot, add the oil, onions, and bell peppers. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Push the vegetables off to one side of the pan.
4. Add the meat, chopping it up a bit with tongs, and cook and stir until almost no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Mix the vegetables back in and toss to combine with the meat. Divide the steak mixture into 4 long mounds in the pan or on the griddle, lay the cheese on top, and cook for 1 minute longer to melt the cheese. Pile the cheesy meat mixture into the warm rolls and serve immediately.

I modified it this week to try it in the crock pot. I used the same ingredients except I substituted the sirloin (manly) for a round roast (manly). I threw everything in before I left for work and when I came home it looked like this:

(my amateur photo)

I should have put the veggies in for the last few hours instead of the whole day but that was not an option for me. When we were ready to eat I put the meat on a hoagie bun with a piece of cheese and put it in the microwave for about 20 seconds.  I served this with cheesy potatoes (Josh's request) but they turned out weird this time and since I have the best cheesy potato recipe ever I refuse to show the dismal result. I'll do the cheesy taters justice in a future blog post!

Maple Glazed Pork Chops courtesy of Paula Deen

I have started a little Friday afternoon ritual (apparently). The last 2 Friday's I found myself watching The Food Network while waiting for Josh to get home from work. I have never really watched much of The Food Network because I always figured I couldn't keep up. Turns out it isn't that intimidating. I picked up 2 recipes to try. The first is this one (below) and the second is for mini beef wellingtons that I hope to give a try soon.

Here is Paula's recipe for Maple Glazed Pork Chops (with some modifications)

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons ancho chili powder (I used spicy Mrs Dash because I couldn't find my chili powder)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 (10-ounce) center cut bone-in pork chops, about 1-inch thick (I did not have bone-in chops)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup butter maple syrup (I found a sugar free maple syrup which made for a different consistency than Paula's)
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• Pecans, toasted and chopped, optional garnish (I did not do this part)

In a small bowl, combine the chili powder and salt and sprinkle evenly over both sides of the pork chops.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the pork chops and cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook until desired doneness, about for 4 to 6 minutes.

In a small skillet, over medium-high heat, add the balsamic vinegar and cook until reduced by half. Stir in the maple syrup and chicken stock. Cook over medium heat until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes.

Transfer to a serving platter and serve with the maple syrup. Garnish with toasted pecans, if desired.

Paula served this with mashed sweet potatoes the difference being she said "Well, it calls for a 1/4 cup of butter but let's go ahead and use a 1/2 cup" and I said "Let's eye ball this, skip all the spices, and use a lot less butter." It seemed a lot healthier. I made sweet potatoes and regular mashed potatoes since Josh doesn't care for sweet ones. Both worked well. I'd give this recipe an A. Smelled great, tasted good, reasonable prep time, re-heated really well.  I give my attempt at this recipe a B.

Great eats from Pure Michigan

I think I'm going to have to try this! I just read an article on freep.com about the new cookbook released as part of the Pure Michigan ad campaign. Recipes and ingredients from the great state of Michigan. You can read more and buy it here.

Griffin was here