Some Weekend Delights

So decided to bust out the slower cooker again this weekend cause it is all the rave. Actually grabbed it because I had come across a recipe that called for it's use... a recipe that had the word taco in it. Kryptonite if ever there was one.

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili from Skinny Taste seemed like it would hit a couple taste buds. 1st off- Tacos. 2nd- Chili.  and 3rd- chicken. On top of that going healthy eating so seemed like a win. Based on folks heat sensitivities I altered the recipe by skipping out on the chili powder and green chili peppers.

The finished product: Chicken Taco Chili

Not really sure what constitutes the taco part outside of the seasoning and black bean. Definitely tasted more like chili. That being said I did actually enjoy it. So much so that the next couple of days decided to use the leftover for tater tot nachos? I mean its not really tacos so let's alternative fact that so it count as nachos.

Tator Tot Nachos

I would say this is probably not as healthy but I think overall this serving came to around 450 calories. Salt wise and all that- not so good but hell its worth it for a once in a while thing...or twice as we did it again for dinner tonight. Came out great so why not do it again.

Some reason on Sunday I was craving breakfast/brunch type food. That's interesting because I'm not typically a breakfast person or at least in the morning. Not really sure why that is. I'd rather eat like tacos, Chinese food, pizza, etc. Maybe I'm still a college diet type person?  Yeah I don't know what the hell that means either. Any who, I did get into egg Benedict over the Christmas break. I am prone to make those now if you stop on by I don't think I'd say no to it- unless missing ingredients. 

All that being said it had been a while since I hit up Double Yolk in Aurora, IL. Got introduced to this place by Nora a couple years ago. I'd have to say, in my limited breakfast knowledge, this is the best breaskfast joint in the area. I think was a long time since we last hit that place up so figured why not. Pulled a Karen and went with a staple menu choice (in my mind): Gyro Feta Omelette.

Gyro Feta Omelette

English Muffin addiction is strong

 I will say the serving platter/dish struck me as weird. I originally almost said they were skillets but really not sure why else you would use those for. Never the less it hit the spot so wouldn't even matter if it was served on a paper plate. Karen went with a repeat choice of a Denver Omelette.

Karen's choice Denver Omlette

Karen loves them flapjacks

Lily was the only one to step outside of the box and went with an outside of the box choice of French Toast and side of sausage. Interestingly enough they ask you about your choice of sausage..PAUSE... as in if you want a link or patty. Not sure many other places do that.

Lily's French Toast w/ a side of sausage

Everyone enjoyed their food so have to count this as a victory all around in the food choices. Definitely working on new ways to use the air fryer so look forward to that and possible Naked Chicken Chalupa in the near future.

#Respekt,

Reef

I mean, I guess I can't say I don't like beef anymore....

So if you know me, you know I hate chewing things. Like, not most things but specifically meat. Specifically beef. Now, this might be because of my dad's very minor tendency to overcook things plus the fact that my mom is what we would call "not a fan" of cooking, especially for a family of six, who were mostly males. So she did a lot of very basic stuff. A veggie on the side, tacos, fish sticks, hotdogs, pot roast with carrots/potatoes, meat foil pack things on the grill, you get the picture. And that's cool but not my jam and as such I was a very picky eater growing up who mostly had milk for dinner. Milk with ice because a. I hate the flavor of milk and ice makes it less milky and b. I like a very cold beverage. I have been known to say that milk straight out of the fridge (not at my house though) is hot. No lie. 

So imagine my surprise when Big Country (aka Jeremy) got me out of my non-beef eating phase into trying more stuff. (Let's not get crazy, I eat ground beef but only if seasoned well otherwise too beefy. SHUT UP YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.) so. I decided this weekend we would try FRENCH DIPS. In the crock pot. I KNOW. Now. I have made the skinnytaste one before and I wasn't crazy about it. This one I tried from Carlsbad Cravings had different seasonings and was more of the flavor that I liked. Plus, I didn't really worry about the fatty being trimmed off (because lazy) and I think it gave it good flavor. 

But BEHOLD. This was as I was putting it all together. 

 

These are the ingredients which I screenshotted because my phone was not wanting to cooperate with the webpage in a timely fashion. Now you can see I didn't sear my meat (because who has time at 6:15 am?) but it didn't matter. It cooked on low for approximately 11 hours before I broke it apart. 

 

 

You can see there are a bunch more ingredients than the Skinnytaste version. I would go with this one hands down because the flavor was better. 

Now. Being my mother's daughter and liking to use up stuff, we ate them on toasted hotdog buns with provolone. The kids ate the meat separate from the buns and us adults dipped ours. 

 

 

I totally say make it. The kids liked it. The adults liked it and I will totally make it again. Wooohooo! Recipe here. 

Healthy Eating and The Return of the Crock pot

This week has returned to healthy eating ...well recipe wise as oppose to that Steak N Shake debacle from the weekend (see previous blog). 

Karen wins the first round of healthy cooking with Loaded Cauliflower Mash Bake. Some interesting notes- Karen made her own buttermilk as we don't really drink milk in this house. She used 1 tablespoon of vinegar and cashew milk. Not sure where she got this from but my top guesses are (in no particular order): She made it up on the spot, her years of witchcraft finally came to fruition, or she phoned a friend. Either way it appeared to have worked. I'm guessing calorie wise its even lower than the 1% buttermilk the recipe calls for.

Karen's Loaded Brujeria Cauliflower Bake

Came out pretty good. Probably my only critique, as she reads this and I don't want to be murdered in my sleep, would be to add more seasoning. My seasoning I mean SAZON cause I pretty much love putting that in everything. Very good and healthy so can't really can't knock it... unless you hate cauliflower.

Having had great success (said in Borat voice) with the first ever crock pot, I kind of wanted to spin the wheel again. Inspiration/credit goes to my pal Rob which might be unknowingly on his part. Was scrolling my news feed/homepage whatever you call it on Facebook and saw he had post a link: 10 Healthy Chicken Recipes in A Pressure Cooker or Crock Pot.  They all seemed like they would be pretty good so just went with the first one on the list- Italian Chicken.

The Crock Pot Set up

Lily's nemesis mushrooms being added to the mix

Shredded Chicken #SavageAF

Putting the chicken where it belongs

The finish product on some slider buns

Decided to make sliders with the final product for one simple reason. We had buns. Back story to that was the store had a buy one get one free (BOGO for you savy folks out there). And instead of getting two loaves of bread, figured why not grab some buns...PAUSE. I'm assuming this could work in a wrap or over some pasta. Looking back at the article it gave other suggestions- stuffed pepper, grilled cheese, as a soup, etc. The grilled cheese seemed like it would be good so might have to do that with left overs. This cooks a big portion but as it states in the article it freezes well which is very nice (said in Borat voice).

Fairly simple as most crock pot recipes appear to be. Chop up what you need to, throw that stuff in there, turn on the machine, and sit and wait.  I'm not a crock pot expert so random stupid thoughts/questions that popped in my head while staring at it: "Is there a difference in temperature between the 4 hours and 6 hours settings?" "Who invented this thing?" "Remember that one time Nora's department had a typo and used cock pot instead." "Hope it's good." The answers were per my own logic- its just a timer so no. Per Google Crock pot was invented here in Chicago by Irving Naxon. Yep that was hilarious. And overall pretty good.

Definitely going to have to try other items on that list as the crock pot isn't just going to use itself. Did find another recipe else where that I will try out and blog about.

 #SprinkleChefStyle,

Reef

There Has To Be A Winner and A Loser...

So went to another indy wrestling show last night with one of my best friends Nora at 115 Bourbon Street in Marionette Park, IL. That place is pretty massive or as they describe themselves "the Southside's largest entertainment complex".  That being said there's like a restaurant, multiple bars, patio area, etc. You would think "hey they do good business the food must be decent". Fake News. Not True. Sad. (insert air horns here). Having done a trial and error eating at the restaurant with the Suntan Superman Darren (#shoutoutstoDarren) this is not the case. That being said decided we were going to eat after the show but needed something to hold us over. Nora bought some "nachos". Now I didn't take a picture but that was some sad stuff. They apparently ran out of jalapenos and was just generic "cheese". I suppose it did the job but for a giant entertainment complex to not even compete with lame movie theaters.

Carne Asada Tacos

My addiction: Spicy carrots/onions. A good sign the place is legit.

Rest assure that the followup stop was well worth the wait. If you guessed tacos, then give yourself a prize. We hit up El Faro in Summit, IL which is a 24 hour Mexican restaurant. This is the second time I’ve been to this joint and must say it’s 2 for 2 record wise. Kind of a hole in the wall which is a good sign in my world. I will say though their steak tacos (my number #1 food choice of all time) are phenomenal.

Guess I never paid attention to the awning but apparently its "The House of the Giant Steak Burritos". I will say though their steak tacos (my number #1 food choice of all time) are phenomenal. So if you’re ever in the area- maybe flying in from Midway or for whatever reason on the South/Southwest side of the season I’d highly recommend.

So after a long night and a couple hours of sleep, turned out was just going to be me and Lily for  hanging out on Saturday. That being said she had said the day before she wanted to go to Steak N Shake. She brought it up again that morning. I for one do not not like Steak N Shake at all. Karen and Lily love it which typically they go on their own or meet up with whoever minus myself. I tried my hardest to change her mind and she was having none of it. Probably bad parenting but whatever I’m typically leave food options to whoever I’m hanging with. #GuestRites

Lily's Cookie Dough Milkshake

Kid's Hot Dog Meal

My choice of Chili Dog Meal

 I'm fairly certain the only notable menu item I don't mind is the Frisco Melt from Steak N Shake but was feeling adventurous. Now that I think about it that might be the only thing Karen orders. Not sure if Lily switches up her choices or not. I ended up trading half of the Chili Dog to her and she liked it. So maybe she'll pick it next time? Who knows? That being said probably the best thing I had there was a coke.  I mean the place might be better than 115 Bourbon Street but that's some low standards there. Sorry Steak N Shake lovers but this place doesn't appear like it'll win me over. It was a valiant effort (not really) but hey Lily loved it so that's all that matters. 


#WeekendFoodie
Reef

Hmmmm anyone want some pie?

This past weekend I tried to not go TOO CRAZY with baking....but I came across a recipe via the Facebook called Fireball Whiskey Infused Apple Pie  It only included the ingredients so I had to google and here's what I found.....

You basically make your own apple pie, like you do. But....before you put everything together, you let the apples soak in the fireball for....3-4 hours....and then you put it all together and bake it. 

Mmmm so many apples.

 

 

We ended up putting them in a casserole dish and just stirred them up every so often. When they are done, you cook them with the rest of the ingredients. (Your usual, sugar, flour, brown sugar, etc) 

 

Makes this pretty sauce...mmmm

Mine made to much for one pie and I only had one set of crusts so I also made an apple crisp.

 

 

 

Mmmmmm ok. Now the big reveal!

 

 It was DELICIOUS. Yes the crust kind of fell off the pie. Aldi has some situations with their pie crusts lately which, I'm going to have to stop buying them there because they are very odd. I highly recommend this pie. It is yummy. But. I wouldn't buy a whole bottle of fireball JUST to make this pie. Jeremy had brought some to my house so I already had it on hand. Very cinnamony. Mmmmmm PIE. 

 

Eating Good and Loving it

Pretty much love me some innovations when it comes to leftovers. I'm going to guess is a result of growing up where we ate the same meal for days on end. Definitely had white rice I'd say on average about 5-6 days out of the week. After a while- although I pretty much can eat whatever- you kind of get bored and want to spice it up my mixing some foods you have available. Made a batch of that Caponata and after a couple days ended up making individual pizzas from.

Caponata Pizza

Previously have blogged about this so won't go into the particulars. Other variations were omelettes and sandwiches which I stupidly forgot to take pics of. I'm sure I'll be making this again at some point so will have to brainstorm other options for that.

I think cooking wise Karen was the star of the week. I'm not Irish- unless you count St. Patty's Day as I'm told everyone is that day- but I love me some Shepard's Pie. I think its probably cause it's a hodgepodge of deliciousness. That being said Karen's version is a healthier take on it: Skinny Taste Shephard's Pie

Karen went a step beyond beyond the recipe and used ground turkey instead of ground beef. Honestly we've cut out red meat out of most things for years now. Just seemed a healthier to me but I guess there's some debates on such things but from a calorie standpoint its 170 vs. 215. Simple enough for me and honesty think it taste just as great. Look at me acting like one of those Chick-Fil-A cows on a billboard.

The underlying deliciousness

My terrible pic after I mangled the serving

A more professional pic of the goodness

Taking a break from blogging I totally forget to put my inner fat kid in check so I can take nice pictures. I'll get back into the full swing of things soon enough. Fingers crossed! For tonight I was actually going to try out the air fryer but got lazy/demotivated from a long day of work. Also I was kind of thinking I wanted to try something fancy and that required more research. So that will happen soon enough.

So laziness and what not made me decide to get some Panera for dinner. Karen and Lily got the same stuff they always do so didn't bother taking pics of their food. I opted to try two new items as a part of their you pick two option. The first option was their Low Fat Vegetarian Black Bean Soup

Panera Black Bean Soup

Funny enough fat kid had taken over and I actually ate it before I thought "Hey Stupid, you should have taken a picture. So the above is their stock pic but honestly it did look just like that. This soup was only 90 calories per their pick 2 serving. Was pretty damn good. Spices and all it tasted like chili minus the meat. I highly enjoyed it and would get it again.

The 2nd part to my pick 2 was their Roasted Beets, Quinoa, & Citrus salad. Really couldn't remember all that was in there so from their site: Arugula, romaine, kale and radicchio blend and pickled red onions tossed in apple cider vinaigrette and topped with quinoa, Gorgonzola, roasted beets, mandarin oranges and toasted pecan pieces

Panera Roasted Beets, Quinoa, & Citrus Salad

Pretty much was okay but I didn't enjoy their dressing for this and mostly because I think they gave me the wrong one. LOL. Per the description was suppose to be apple cider vinaigrette. I got some sort of ginger type dressing. No worries I still ate cause damn I paid for that. Would try it again but most likely verify the dressing and/or switch to the one they use for Karen's salad which is a white balsamic vinaigrette. Related note- I'm kind of a dressing fan but some reason they've limited/reduced/got cheap with the amount of dressing they give. I mean it worked out this time as I wasn't a fan of this one, but say I got my favorite Greek salad and they short changed me? #FatKid4Life.

Anyway I'll definitely bust out that air fryer in the next couple of days and report it in.

You're favorite guy named Shariff,

Reef

5 Guys...well really two women making burgers

Been kind of a lazy flying solo day for yours truly. I productive wise- cleaned out/organized the freezer and some other household chores. I did end up making some Mexican Street Corn Salad- which I've previously blogged about. Definitely was a strong addiction/best find of 2016- thanks Megan.  Interestingly enough she found a slow cooker Mexican Street Corn Chowder recipe that sparked me making the salad. Will have to try that and blog about it at a later time.

So went out to the store to pick up some stuff and decided to go to Five Guys for lunch. I had tried Five Guys once when they first opened in the area. I think  possibly a decade ago. From what I recalled I wasn't very impressed. I think the other issue I have is I'm not really a burger person from restaurants. I enjoy them off the grill at parties/BBQs but really don't typically order them.  That being said I've heard folks rave about Five Guys over the years so figured why not give it a try as they opened one up a couple minutes away. 

Place was kind of busy so you would think they'd have more than just two people working.  Per their website:  "We only use fresh ground beef. We only use peanut oil. There are no freezers in Five Guys locations, just coolers." Which reminded me of Wendy's destroying that troll on Tweeter. Wonder who ripped off who in terms of never frozen? 

After perusing the menu while there was a gentleman ahead of me, I decided to go with a bacon hamburger and fries.

Bacon Hamburger

Hand cut fries

Luckily the lady that took my order realized I was a newbie informed me that a regular sized fries actually is cooked/made to serve two people. She was like I just wanted to let you know as its usually for two people so didn't want you to order them and then have to toss them out. I was very appreciative of that info- not enough to throw money in the tip jar but it was close. So a burger, small fries, and a drink. Grand total came out to over $15. That there sealed the deal on not getting tipped (not code for anything). 

Overall food was good. Not sure if it was $15 worthy but it did fill me up pretty good. I can't imagine what it would have been had it been the whole family. Nope. Would I eat there again? Possibly but most likely would be someone else's choice and/or only option available type scenario. Sorry all Five Guys fanatics but wasn't deemed a must have or repeat offender. Pretty much just a money thing overall.

Excitedly got a new cooking device delivered in the mail today: air fryer. Back in the shopping frenzy known as Black Friday I had seen that a place had one on sale. Hadn't really considered or even known about one prior to that. Also I wasn't going to jump in the early hour chaos. Needless to say they sold out quickly. Keep forward to Christmas and the joys of getting a generous gift cards. Opted to put them towards an air fryer and picked them bad boy/girl (depending on your preference).

Ready to get my fry on

Mostly helps with not wasting oil and being a healthier option. Will be interesting figuring it out for stuff like fried plantains and random other stuff that typically gets fried. Fingers crossed it works. Will definitely blog about it when it happens.

So likely Karen loves me and knows my love of Mexican food- in particular tacos. Coming back they went to Burrtio Parrilla for dinner. Definitely have blogged about this place before. It was her friend's choice. Which Karen texted me and I confirmed that I had taken her and Tina there before. Karen picked me up some al pastor tacos.

Al Pastor tacos

They hit the spot for sure. Honestly might be the best Mexican joint in Naperville...Naperthrill?Napertucky? I'll have to put more thought into it but I think that might be accurate. Aurora would be harder choice to make as its loaded with numerous Mexican restaurants. That might be a Taco Tuesday debate.

#ManWithThePlan,

-Reef-

Slow cooking for a slow weekend

Guess who's back...back again..Shady's...wait no not him I meant me. Been a while stuck in the land of working, artwork, and pettiness. Needless to say I'm getting back on track with the foodie adventures and cooking for 2017. Does this count as a New Year's Resolution? Probably shouldn't cause you know a bunch of fools make those and never stick to them.  Personal goal it is.

Some reason I was scouring the internets for new stuff and recipes. Pretty much if you look at my pantry you'll typically find cans consisting of chickpeas, tomato sauce, and Gandules (aka Pigeon Peas). So you can imagine what- outside of the inappropriate searches on my web browser- I was looking up. I came across Slow cooker Pork and Gandules Stew. Now this hits a couple of things- 1) first time for me using a slower cooker (at least that I could remember), 2) Gandules, 3) brand new, 4) healthy eating.  I had been sitting on this recipe for a bit and with thoughts of Saturday (today) being a bum figured why not try it.

Prep work was started last night (Friday) as we all know (or should know) meat is best marinaded overnight. Actually had everything in stock outside of the pork tenderloin so was a short trip to Meijer. Typically speaking I think their meat selection isn't all that great. PAUSE.  But considering was kind of short notice as I don't plan much they had what I needed. PAUSE.

Pork tenderloin looking kind of pervy

What I strive to look like when I seasoned the meat. #SaltBae #NotCode

Pork marinated and ready to chill in the fridge overnight

Funny enough I had to ask questions to Karen about the slower cooker- not so much how to use it as all you do is plug it in and set it to the hours needed and walk away. It was more what goes in first- the vegetables, sauce, meat, etc. Probably resembled an episode of Worst Cooks In America on how stupid I felt asking. So if you're curious I went sauce/water, vegetables, then pork.  Honestly probably made no difference at all because I ended up stirring/combining it more once it cooked for a while

Crock Pottery at it's finest. 

I did make some adjustments to the recipe as there may be some picky eaters in this household. Their names rhyme with Sharon and Silly.  Left out the escarole/kale/spinach all together as they are not fans of it. Honestly don't really think that they would have added much to the stew outside of  Being addicted to Adobo I use that instead of salt and pepper as I feel that does a better job getting more taste. I used mild jalapeños from a jar as they who shall not be named are spice sensitive. And then instead of 1 medium potatoes (assuming they meant a Russet) I went with yellow potatoes as I had those handy. As far as the celery I probably only used 1/2 a stalk...well let's say 3/4. It was an estimation as I thought a whole stalk of celery was excessive so only used a portion of it. I mean no one care about celery as its more filler than thriller.

The finished product

8 hours later and what was the final verdict? Sharon and Silly really liked it. Needless to say I'm biased and much like TV cook shows you don't expect me to say anything else other than FANTASTIC or YUMMO. What's Salt Bae or as I call him Sparkle Chef's thoughts?

Super simple to make. I think if you're not into pork you could probably substitute chicken breast and it would come out great. Health wise for you folks watching your waistlines- it's only 180 calories for a cup and totally filling. Probably- which I saw the website show a picture of it- going to try at least one time for leftovers serving it over some rice. I had thought about having some fried plantains with it but having gone to Meijer I didn't do it as I think their plantains for whatever reason are terrible. Next time I go there I'll see where they import them from. Damn my high standards!

Keep on cooking!

-Reef-

Homemade Chinese food...

Tonight I tried a recipe that has been hanging out in my inbox for approximately a year. No joke. It's from Slender Kitchen and it's called Spicy Hoisin Chicken. 

Basically, it's cut up chicken breast, some hoisinsauce  (which of course I had), some fresh grated ginger (also which I had, you know you can keep it in the freezer till you need it? I pull it out frozen and grate it right into whatever I am making), some siriracha (also, I had) and a little oil (for cooking the chicken). Took like ten minutes to make, we ate it over brown rice (that part took a million hours, if I make it for just me next time I will eat it with quinoa instead of rice I think). Omg. So good. The kids liked it. Jeremy liked it. I liked it. I feel like I would have liked it a shade spicier but it was pretty damn good. Filling and tasty. I only took one picture and forgot to take a picture of it over rice. I did however take a pre-picture of our breakfast...

 

We are going to have a potato, onion, sausage quiche for breakfast. Here's the first stages of it.... 

I tasted the potatoes when they were finished and YES PLEASE. I'm very excited for the quiche as I basically made up the recipe. 

In other excitement, I just got Jeremy to watch Mad Men Episode 1 with me. I had forgotten HOW TERRIBLE EVERYONE IS AT FIRST. I mean, they end up all being terrible always but YOU GET USED TO IT. Omg it's sooooo good though. Elisabeth Moss. Sooooo young. Vincent Kartheiser (don't forget wife of Alexis Bledel (or your most favorite irritating millennial, Rory Gilmore). JOAN. OMG JOAN. Omg. 

At any rate, I can't wait to watch it all again. I was spellbound as was my 7 yo. More pix of quiche tomorrow, and if it's good I will tell you what I did.