When your garden gives you basil, make pesto!

The most amazing and inspiring thing happened yesterday.

 

Two friends tried two separate recipes that I’ve shared and liked them.  What?  Amazing!  I was completely inspired to create and share more.  If you try anything, and whether you like it or not, I would love your feedback!

 

Now onto food!  On our menu yesterday was Pesto Pork and Butter/Garlic/Lemon Pasta**

**title subject to change

 

Since basil is something we grow, and grow a lot of, I’ve always wanted to make pesto, but never have.

It's a jungle out there.

 I’ve heard horror stories about using old pine nuts and how they wreak havoc on your taste buds.  Not to mention, they’re rather pricey at the market.  I scoured the internet and found a recipe using almonds.  And by scoured, I clicked the first link. 

 

http://littleferrarokitchen.com/2013/02/basil-almond-pesto/

 

It seemed easy enough, so I was determined to do it. I only had a couple of minor tweaks, but I think that mainly because I over mixed in the food processor.  Oops?

I started by toasting the almonds:

No oil, just almonds in a pan, to toast.

I only toasted them about 3-4 minutes.  Add to food processor.  Take two garlic cloves, or 1 giant clove like the one I got:

 

Listed in my recipe book as a GIANT clove of garlic.

Make sure you cut up your garlic before adding to the processor - this clove I cut into 4. Then pulse away.  In retrospect, I think I pulsed too much, so next time I would pulse until the size of large panko, not fine breadcrumbs.

 

 

 A little too much pulsing...

 

 Next, I measured* out the basil. 

My scale is so well used, that the letters on the buttons have worn off.

The original recipe called for 2 cups, so I stuck to that, initially.  Added it to the food processor.  The recipe also calls for 3/4 cup olive oil.  So to start, I added 1/4 of it to the food processor and the rest I drizzled in as it mixed.  After completed combined, I added a pinch of salt and some fresh cracked black pepper, about 1/4 tsp.

 

Too much liquid, not enough chunk.

Then it was time to taste.  Two things were evident to me right away: first, I over mixed it, it was way too liquidy and not chunkish, like traditional pesto.  Second, it felt like it needed something.  My immediate go-to when something needs a little something, is acid, in the form of lemons.  Mainly because I have a giant lemon tree in my backyard, but also because it adds great flavor.  I squeezed half a lemon, which yields about 1 oz.

It was better, but still off.  A friend suggested adding more basil, so I added the rest in my bag, which was a little under a cup, but a cup would be fine here too. I manually pulsed three times, to leave a little bit of chunk in those added basil leaves and WHATDOYOUKNOW? Amazing. Delicious.  Still on the thin side, but so good, it didn't matter.

It's chunkier than it looks and the more it sat, the better it was.

I decided to use the pesto as a topping for pork.  I used center cut pork chops, about 1-1.5 inches thick.  I seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, knowing that the pesto was going to bring a punch of flavor.  I seared them in olive oil for about 6 minutes of each side.  After, I drained the oil, I put about half a tablespoon of pesto on each, covered the pan, and let sit for a few minutes.

 Big flavor in a small quantity.

Pesto Recipe

1/4 cup toasted almonds

1-2 cloves of garlic, based on your taste

3 cups basil (54 grams used in this recipe)

1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 oz lemon juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

This recipe made* 18 tbsp. and I made the serving* 1tbsp.

Macros per serving: 1g Carbs, 11g Fat, 1g Protein

I decided to pair the pork with a simple pasta.  Normally I douse my pasta with tons of cream and cheese, but being conscious about fat these days, figured packing more flavor in the way of garlic and lemon could distract from the lack of fat.

 This pasta was better than I had hoped.

 I used what I had on hand, hence the strange butter measurement, but the rest seems pretty standard.

 

Butter/Garlic/Lemon Spaghetti

39g unsalted butter (a little under 3 tbsp.)

1 tsp. crushed garlic

Zest of 1 lemon (approx. 2 tsps.)

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan

Squeeze of half a lemon (1 oz.)

2/3 cup of cooking liquid

12 oz. Spaghetti

Salt to taste

 

Macros: 42g Carbs, 7g Fat, 9g Protein – per serving

 

Unfortunately, there are no pictures for the pasta process.  After you boil the pasta (according to package directions) in salted water, drain.  In the same pot, add the butter.  Turn the stove on low-med to melt the butter.  Add garlic and lemon zest.  Turn off stove once melted and mixed – you want everything warm but you’re not cooking anything, and then add the rest of the ingredients, minus spaghetti.  It’s important to taste your sauce before you add the pasta.  If it’s good on its own, it’ll be amazing with your pasta.

 

I didn’t measure* this recipe like I normally do, because 2 oz. of dry pasta = 5 oz of cooked pasta, and the package itself told me there were 6 servings, of 2 oz. dry pasta.

The finished product:

I eat carbs.  Lots of carbs.

 

I topped with a minimal amount of parmesan, because parmesan.

 

*A note about measurements, recipes, servings, yada, yada, yada:

Since I’m big into macros these days, I am very conscious of every ingredient. I keep a notebook next to me as I cook, so I remember to write down everything I add.

Here’s the anal retentive part of me: after I cook, I try and figure out what I’d like the serving size to be.  Like, how much of this would fill me up, and that would be one serving.  I then take my finished product and use my measuring cup, and scoop it into another container until there’s none left and I know exactly how many servings I have.  Example: cooking ¾ cup of rice gives me 10, 1/3 cup cooked rice servings.  Once I know that, I enter it all into a recipe on myfitnesspal and get every detail about the food I’ve made. 

Notice the cross outs, brand names, etc. - I like to be exact.

It sounds like a lot of work.  Totally, and it kind of is. 

BUT, once you do it once, especially to things you cook all the time, you only have to do it once, as long as you stick to your recipe.

 

Happy cooking!

p.s also makes a great gift!

"That's a spicy meatball!"

I had a hankering for meatballs the other day.

Does anyone say 'hankering' anymore?

Anyway, I was watching Ina Garten on the television, and she made turkey meatballs.  She was very practical about her meal.  She made the meatballs from scratch, so she justified the use of sauce from a jar.  I could do that too!

Except, I had ground beef, and turkey patties, and I'm not too fond of red pepper flakes. And, I wanted to use some fresh herbs and spinach from my garden.

So, off to Google I go, to explore recipe ideas, trying to keep in mind my macros.

I couldn't find a single recipe that fit every want, so I took the basics and made it my own.  The basics included: meat, egg, bread crumbs, salt, pepper.  The add-ons: home grown spinach and basil, minced garlic, and Cholula hot sauce.

Stay with me.

I really should have taken a picture before I mixed them and rolled them, but here's what they looked like:

Because the food scale is my new best friend, each meatball was approx. 2.75 oz pre-cooked.  They went into a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes.

I boiled spaghetti, warmed the pasta sauce in a pot, then added my meatballs to the sauce, just to warm through. You might ask why they needed to be warmed up if they were just taken out of the oven.  Well, I cooked the meatballs about 2 hours before dinner.  I then channeled my inner Ina, put everything in a platter, just to be fancy.

Just add torn basil leaves.  It makes it look pretty.

This is what my individual serving looked like. The hot sauce gave it good flavor, without being too hot, and I was able to sneak some spinach and basil in them, and the kids ate them up with no objections.  Owen even asked for seconds.

Meatball Recipe

1.5 pounds of ground beef 90/10

2 turkey patties (8 oz. 93/7)

3 tsps. Cholula

1 tsp. minced garlic

5 large spinach leaves (cut)

10 basil leaves (cut, leave 2-3 for garnish)

1 large egg

1/3 cup of Italian seasoned bread crumbs

Salt/Pepper to taste (about 1 tsp. each)

Preheat oven to 400.

Throw all ingredients in a bowl, mix with your hands. 

I used an ice cream scooper and food scale to get approximately the same size meatballs.

Cook meatballs for 25 minutes.

Makes 13 meatballs.

2 meatballs is more than enough to fill you up.

Macros per meatball: 7g fat, 2g carbs, 15g protein

These were great the next day too.

Enjoy!



Our Hipster Garden

In an effort to eat healthier and potentially save some money*, we decided to replant our garden.

Last year, we had everything in buckets.  Lots and lots of buckets.  It was a very hot summer, and our sprinklers were low.  That led to mass destruction of our garden.

So about a month ago, we decided to re-do the whole thing.  With many thanks to Pinterest! we opted to create a raised garden using concrete blocks.  We decided to use the small squares for herbs, spinach, strawberries, and lettuce.  In the bigger space we planted tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, and cucumbers?  Seriously, I have no idea what seeds my son threw in there, but something is growing.

To ensure we don't set ourselves up for failure, we did a few things: before laying the blocks and soil, we laid down some cardboard to help with weeds, we bought taller sprinkler heads, and we planted some plastic bottles with holes drilled in to catch excess water and have that water distributed deep into the roots.

A month in, and everything is growing beautifully.  Way better than I thought it would and with minimal effort from me which is a huge plus.

The basil and cilantro are growing like crazy.  In order for it not to go to waste, I decided to make herb ice cubes, so I can use them any time.  Cut, rinse, and dry herbs (with salad spinner) - then place them in ice cube trays, fill with water, and throw them into the freezer.  Once completely frozen, put cubes in a freezer bags and use whenever you need them.

Now that we're pretty serious about this whole garden thing, we went back to the Home Depot and bought more seeds/plants, including marigolds.  I know that the whole marigold thing may not be entirely accurate, but it can't hurt, right?  So, here's what the garden looks like as of today:

Marigolds along the back, tomato cages for the growing tomatoes, new plants, newly planted seeds, and just as many herbs as there were last week (1st picture).  Looks like there are more herb cubes in my immediate future.

Here's the *money saving disclaimer: it costs money to plant something like this.  Even more money if you want it to be organic, like ours.  We utilized sales at Home Depot and didn't buy everything all at once.  I used to buy Dorot cubes at Trader Joe's for about $2 each.  My organic cilantro seeds cost $2.49, but made three cilantro plants.  I think it will be cost effective in the long run and well worth it.  Besides using the garden to get healthier, it has given us (me and Owen anyway) a new hobby.

I'll keep you updated on it's progress and the meals we make with it.

Let me know if you garden or what you would plant if you could.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

Strangely enough, I've missed blogging.  I've been asked more than once in the last week why I haven't blogged.  I would have thought that unemployment would be the perfect opportunity to update my blogs every day, or at least a few times a week.  Yet somehow, I haven’t updated this blog since December 2012.  It’s not because I’m not cooking, the opposite is true in fact.  I cook all the time, nearly every day.  I think it’s just a matter of adding blogging to my list of daily activities.  You know:

Wake up

Make coffee
Feed dog
Beg son to use the potty
Write blog
Etc…

Of course, in no particular order.  The daily activities always seem to be the same; the order however, leaves something to be desired on some days.

With all of this in mind and with no promises of the future of this blog, let’s talk food.

I have found that lately I have been the voice of the frugal meal maker.  Partly because of our situation with my unemployment, but partly because it’s easy and I have the time.  We have become pupils of the “all cash” budget with categories (ala Dave Ramsey) and I seem to really have this food thing for our family down to a science.  I budget $100/week for groceries and only $25/week in fast food.  I plan all of our meals on Saturday for the following week (Sunday – Saturday).  Sometimes, I even make multiple things on Sunday, and freeze or just store for that week in the fridge.  I like to think that these kinds of habits are very much needed for when I eventually find a job.  Besides being cost effective, we’re eating much healthier.  Note: I don’t always make the healthiest meal, but it’s got to be much healthier than take out/fast food?  Right?

I’m not a couponer, but I do look for deals.  And I don’t grocery shop with the husband or teenager.  They have a habit of making my bill higher than it needs to be.

This week’s menu:

Sunday: dinner @ mom’s

Monday: roasted chicken, veggies, potatoes
Tuesday: tostadas
Wednesday: chicken parm with pasta
Thursday: pork chops, veggies
Friday: sopes, rice
Saturday: hamburgers, pasta salad

And of course, that didn’t go as planned at all.  When I went to prepare the chicken for the slow cooker on Monday morning, the chicken was completely frozen, despite thawing in the fridge for 2 days!  So, I made tostadas on Monday.  Rice, tostada, beans, ground beef, cheese (the stinky feet crumbly kind), lettuce and homemade salsa:

 

Which means, I made the roasted chicken today, with a side of steamed broccoli and smashed potatoes:

 

This now means I’m not making chicken parm tomorrow, because I’m not a fan of having the same protein two days in a row.  So, maybe sopes tomorrow?  I have leftover rice from yesterday’s tostadas.  The beauty of making the menu is that even if I don’t follow it EXACTLY, I know that I have all of the ingredients necessary for each meal at my disposal.

It's worked out nicely since the beginning of the year.

Here some things I'm working on, and will hopefully update you all on:

Planting and growing our own veggies
Growing our own herbs
Mastering the art of sauces (I'm getting close, I can feel it!)
Organizing the freezer
Making more recipes that I've pinned on Pinterest!
Cake/Cupcake decorating

Until next time...

 

Inspiration: Pesto

You would think with all of the home grown basil I have at home, that I would have made a pesto by now.

Truth is, I'm on the fence quite a bit with pesto.  I like it, but I don't.  Maybe I have just had some bad pesto before?  I'm not quite sure.  I've had really good pesto twice before, once right before I went on maternity leave and my boss bought some yummy chicken sandwiches to my send off party; and the other was a few months ago at a friend's house.  She had asked what we liked to eat and I said we were open, but that I don't do seafood.  We ended up having some pesto pasta mixed with chicken and all kinds of vegetables and it was really good.

Since that dinner party, I have been craving some pesto.  I looked up recipes, but I didn't have the gumption to make my own.  It's silly really.

So, I was at Trader Joes the other day and a jar of pesto caught my eye.  I brought it home and the rest is history.  Magical, yummy history.  I started by remaking the dish my friend had made for me a few months before:

Pasta, chicken, broccoli, and roasted red peppers tossed with a little bit of butter and pesto, topped with basil and parmesan.  Totally yummy.  Served with garlic knot rolls, as seen on Pinterest:

Biscuits rolled out, formed into knots, partially bake, take out, top with butter, parmesan, garlic and oregano.  Throw back into the oven and wait until fully cooked and browned on top.  Also very yummy.

This meal didn't use up my whole jar of pesto, so a few days later when we wanted some pizza, we thought to use it in addition to our tomato sauce.  We bought a ready crust, added tomato sauce (with garlic powder and oregano), pesto, topped with mozarella cheese and chicken.  We cooked it and topped with fresh basil.  Of course, having a cute helper makes the cooking process wonderful!

 

 

Here's the end result:

This was totally yummy and inspired another day (a week or so later, we don't eat pizza every day!) of mini pizza making, this time using biscuits:

 

I know it doesn't look like it, but there's a layer of pesto under that cheese and peppers!  This was a quick and yummy luch too.  Took all of 15 minutes, including baking time, but not including the time it took the oven to preheat. :)

On tonight's menu: something with chicken....stay tuned...