Oops I forgot.

Not to have a family dinner on Friday, but just to blog about it. Honestly my meal planning routine has been shot to you know where ever since my daughter got out of the hospital but anyways. No excuse right? Right.

Now my family is personally on a new healthy eating changeover that is including the extreme reduction if not elimination of meat. No, I don't think cows should be pets instead of a steak on my plate, I am just making the choice with all of the hormones and crap out there to limit our intake of all of that. So most of my meal suggestions will be meat free, so if you want some meat, blog it up and send it to me!! LOL

Ok on to my meal. This is my latest favorite dish.

Allison's Tomato Bisque Soup

3-4 large tomatoes

1 can of tomato sauce

1 small can of evaporated milk

Basil, Bay leaf, pinch of salt, a little pepper, and oregano (I have no measurements here just a pinch and a palm and whatever, think Rachel Ray guys!)

Throw all of this together and let cook for a while, then if you want a really smooth consisteny throw it in the food processor to do up the tomatoes.

Once cooked up take about a half a cup of all purpose flour and slowl add it in to the soup. This will thicken the soup and give you mini biscuits or pastas if you will.

Serve garnished with some parmesean and a little parsley and MMMMMMM GOOD!!!

Family Dinner Fridays

This one's from our new contributor Paulina!

Tofu Cincinnati Chili
I am constantly looking for new ways to sneak tofu into a meal. Last night I experimented with a few other recipes I have acquired, and viola! I made what I believe to be the best chili ever, hands down. Round of applause please. If your family squishes up their noses when they hear 'tofu', try my trick: don't tell them. They'll never know. What's the trick to making the tofu have a 'ground beef' like consistency? Freezing it!
Ingredients:
2 Tbs. Olive oil
5 Cloves of fresh garlic, minced
1/2 of a medium-sized onion, minced
1 Red bell pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 Tsp. paprika
1/2 Tsp. ground cumin
1 Tsp. chili powder (round up to more if you want more 'chili' taste)
1/8 Tsp. cayenne pepper ***optional*** this is where you have complete control over how spicy you want your chili
1 Package of Tofu- Frozen and then completely thawed before cooking
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
1/4 cube of unsweetened baking chocolate (not too much, literally two pinches to have that famous sweet/spicy duo)
1/2 Cup vegtable stock
1 Can chili beans
1 Can red kidney beans
2 Ears of fresh corn
***Absolutely mandatory to the recipe: Micheal Jackson's "Rock With You" while using the spoon as a microphone: I can't guarantee your chili will be mind blowing (like mine) if you don't do this***
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. Saute garlic onions on med/low heat until onions are transparent

2. Add bell pepper and spices, stir.
3. Now for the tofu: Once the block is defrosted, I like to cut the tofu in three pieces (the size or cut does not matter at all, I just feel it helps me get all the water out). Freezing tofu makes for a completely un-tofu-like texture. It is like a sponge, and soaks up just about everything. Since you want to tofu to hold all your yummy spices, hold the tofu over the sink and squeeze (like a sponge) out all the water it has retained. Once you've done this to all the tofu, just crumble it up with your fingers and put it right into the pot. Any big pieces left you can continue breaking down with a spatula right in the pan.
4. Add apple cider vinegar, chocolate and vegetable stock. Let it simmer for a couple minutes until about half of the liquid evaporates. Here is where it starts looking brown and crumbly like ground beef. Sneaky-sneaky.




5. Add your beans, lower the temperature to a simmer, and let the chili "do it's thing" in the pan for about 45 minutes. If too dry: sprinkle with veggie stock.
6. Meanwhile cook your corn, then cut length-wise (think hard of when you had braces back in middle school and you had to cut the corn to prevent billy/susie from not wanting to kiss you)
7. Serve in soup bowls and sprinkle with corn. Honestly though, you can sprinkle with anything (sour cream, cilantro, chips, love)
8. Eat. Enjoy. (While watching the Bachelorette and loving Jillian).


Recipe by Paulina Underwood, Husband stationed in Charleston, SC

Pizza and BBQ?

Who would have thought? Apparently Nicole did since she sent in the recipe this week as a contribution to Family Dinner Friday. And you know what? It looks REALLY yummy!!


Here is her recipe and comments...

This is my personal favorite meal I make. It's SO delicous and easy :) I personally use Cattleman's bbq sauce and the wal-mart brand pizza dough. It doesn't roll well though so I just leave it in the square form it comes out in and bake it like that. It works great! :)




BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 package (10 oz) refrigerated pizza crust
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese blend, divided
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup barbeque sauce
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll pizza crust into a 12-inch circle. Sprinkle crust with one cup of cheese.

2. In small bowl combine chicken and barbeque sauce; toss to coat. Dice bell pepper and thinly slice red onion. Top crust with chicken mixture, bell pepper and onion. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.

3. Bake 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Yield 8 servings

Food for Thought.....

Ok to be honest I was not the most careful or paranoid person when I was pregnant with my kids. I drank sodas with caffeine, ate whatever it was that I wanted and listened to my body if it said I was doing too much. Basically I did what my mom did so I figured I was safe. Right?

Moving to South Florida has really changed my perspective on looking at the foods I eat and how they are grown and my family and I have begun to focus on purchasing things that are more responsible for our bodies, our planet, and our pocket book. It just seemed like the right thing to do for us because of all the junk they spray and taint foods and things we use with today. I came across this article today on Sparks people so I thought I would share.


Q. Does eating organic foods before and during pregnancy reduce medical issues for the baby?


A.Research has yet to prove an adverse health effect from consuming the low levels of pesticides commonly found in U.S. food. But for the most vulnerable groups -- children and pregnant women -- going organic whenever possible for fruits and vegetables that carry the heaviest pesticide load makes sense. For organic meat, poultry, eggs, and milk, the direct health benefit is less clear.

Pesticide contaminants pose the biggest risk to children and fetuses. Pesticides have been shown to cross the placenta during pregnancy, and a study by scientists at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health in New York found a link between pesticide use in New York apartments and impaired fetal growth. Another study, from the University of Washington in Seattle, found that preschoolers fed conventional diets had six times the level of certain pesticides in their urine as those who ate organic foods. A 2003 report from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention detected twice the level of some pesticides in the urine of children as in that of adults.

Few doubt that high doses of pesticides can cause neurological or reproductive damage. With infant reproductive organs still forming and the brain developing through age 12, and with young livers and immune systems less able to rid bodies of contaminants, eating organic is more important for children and pregnant or breast-feeding women.

Just some food for thought on the matter. I would say 97% of our produce is organic or grown out of out little garden in our backyard. When we first started buying organic I panicked at the cost. But then we found organic co-ops and buying clubs. I have been involved in two since being down here and they are great! It's a wonderful way to meet similar minded people and get organic foods at lower costs than in the grocery store.

Like I said I have been involved in 2 organic co-ops since moving down here the first one being K-N-D Organics co-op http://groups.yahoo.com/group/K-N-DOrganicCo-op/ which is founded by a friend and a really sweet deal.

The othe that I have been involved with is Annie's Buying Club http://anniesbuyingclub.com/ this one is a bit bigger of a group but just as yummy food.

So if you are n South Florida check these out for yourselves and your families. And if you are not check yahoo for local organics groups or just google your area to see what comes up! Because who cares if your kids eat their veggies if they are coated in poison!!

Ok that may be a bit harsh, but you get the idea! Remember the old saying, "You are what you eat!" It doesn't just apply to pizza and icecream anymore!!!

Family Dinner Fridays

These are such important posts for me because growing up we always were blessed to eat dinner mostly as a family. My dad worked a lot during the week but he would eat with us when he could and always on the weekends. This was the place where we caught up on the week, talked about our passions and plans, and all in the company of good food!

Admittedly we would always whine as kids to go out to eat, or in my case to just eat "normal" food (my mom likes to try the most off the wall stuff), but I am very greatful that my parents didn't succumb to this all the time. We spent so much quality time around our family dinner table, and I hope to pass this on to my children.

This week's dinner will feature my hubby's birthday dish. He is originally from Texas and comes from a little border town called Del Rio. Needless to say he and his family grew up on and completely love Mexican inspired dishes. So for his birthday I decided to make him Navajo Tacos ( a personal favorite of mine). And of course a sinfully delicious cake.

Navajo Tacos;
Bread: 3c flour, 1tsp salt, 3tsp baking soda, 2tbsp shortening, warm water
Combine all ingredients except water first. Then add water one tablespoon at a time until dough consistensy is achieved. Knead up and let sit for about 20 min. Take tablespoon size pieces of dough and roll them out to form a flat circle. Fry in hot vegetable oil on both sides for about a min or less on each side.

Toppings:
For this dish I used refried beans. I cooked the pintos according to the instructions and then mashed them up with onions, and garlic and let sit in a warm crock pot until time to serve. Wala! Homemade refried beans!!

The other toppings are just favs from the fridge. I wanted to make some guacamole but the avocados were not ripe yet. :(

Better than Anything Cake (The actual name!!)
German Chocolate Cake Mix and ingredients required therein
Caramel Syrup
Toffee Bits
Heavy Whipping Cream
Sugar
Vanilla Flavoring

Bake Cake according to box. After baking poke holes throughout the cake at about 1/2- 1 inch spaces and drizzle caramel Syrup over warm cake. Be generous with the Caramel! Chill cake in fridge until completely cooled.
For the Topping take a chilled metal mixing bowl and pour in about half a pint of Heavy whipping cream, a tsp of vanilla and about half a cup of sugar. Whip on high for a few minutes until whipped cream consistancy is achieved. Be sure to tast the topping to make sure whether or not you need to add more sugar or vanilla.

Spread topping over chilled cake and sprinkle with Toffee bits. Yum Yum!!!

I actually got this recipe from another Coastie wife I met a few years ago. Our kids have been the best of friends for years now and she always made my husband this cake for his birthday. I wanted to continue out little tradition (and have an exuse to indulge).

If you would like to share your Family Dinner recipes and photos please send them to coastiewivescorner@yahoo.com

Family Dinner Friday---Only one day Late ;-)

Fridays I would love to start posting different recipes from your family dinners. I personally feel as though whatever meal it is, that a family meal at the table is the most important meal of the day.



Sometimes though we get into ruts and end up tired of our own repertoire of recipes. That is where Family Dinner Fridays comes in. A good friend of mine told me once to participate in as many potluck functions as possible because that's the quickest way to develop your choices. Seems like a pretty common sense suggestion, which is working well for her as she and two of her friends are currently working on a cookbook. For more info check out the blog http://www.eatatmomscookbooks.blogspot.com/ Now on to the food!!!!

Nicole Elliot was the first to respond to the Family Dinner Fridays request (honestly I think she's my only fan at this point, come on prove me wrong!!). Here are her words on how her dinner turned out....

Since money's been a little on the tight side lately I decided to use Allison's great suggestion from last week's Super Saver Sunday and throw a meal together using things I already had in my pantry. The result was the creation of this meal (I came up with the recipe myself!) and I was so happy that it actually turned out super tasty! Here's the recipe!

Fettuccine Pesto Chicken

1/2 a box of fettuccine pasta
Classico Creations Pesto Sauce
3 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Bacon

Cook pasta according to box directions, set aside. While pasta is boiling cut up chicken into small, bite sized pieces. Cook in a skillet with butter about 5 minutes or until the pieces are cooked all the way through. Cook bacon and cut into small pieces. Mix everything together and serve. Enjoy!



MMMM!!Looks great!!!
Here is my own add for this weeks Family Dinner. Unfortunately this was not Friday's Dinner (Little Ceasar's Pizza, which was NOT on the menu this week but life happened), but was a meal I had cooked last week that was so scrumptuous that it had to be photographed! Now with recipes I am not too religious with since I cook by smell and eyeball things a lot. Which is why Rachael Ray is one of my Favs and like her I am not a stellar baker. But I will try to do my best to remember what I put in this bad boy.

Summer Squash/Leftover Casserol
2-3 Yellow squash and or Zucchini
1 1/2 c frozen corn
2 carrots peeled
2 egg whites
1c brown rice
Salt and pepper to taste
pinch of Basil
pinch of parsley
Bisquik (enough prepared to cover the top)

Prepare your rice as instructed minus 15 min (It will finish cooking in the oven
When rice is prepared preheat oven to 350 degrees
Chop all veggies and steam them (for 2 min ONLY!!!)
When rice is cooked, sautee for a few minutes with egg whites
Add veggies and spices
Spread entire mixture into a casserol dish and top with Bisquik mixture

Bake in oven for approx 20 min or until top is nice and brown. Serve and enjoy!! This is a great healthy comfort food too! And my carnivores didn't even complain that there wasn't any meat!!