Pulled Pork Sandwiches... Teressa

Tonight we had the pulled pork sandwiches (page 154.) and I made the coleslaw (pg 292). It really calls for very few ingredients.

First let me start by saying that tonight was the first time I have ever browned meat before putting it in the crock pot. WOW what a difference it makes.. who knew?!

The smell of apple cider vinegar was very over whelming to me but I didn't get any comments like I did last night. (thank goodness.) I started the meat around 9:00a.m. Tested it about 4:30p.m. and WOW it was so tender. You really can't taste the liquid smoke, which surprised me because I have used it before and it was super strong.

Then I started the coleslaw. I was hoping to cheat and get a bag-o-slaw at the store but they didn't have one. So I had to get the purple and white cabbage. Man it was cheep.... It was $.50 for the purple and $.69 for the white. Another surprise. Then I started to cut it and had to call Tracy for some guidance. Because I couldn't get the strips I wanted. He said it was because I was using the worlds dullest knife. (funny guy!) So after some talk about how bland the flavor was and the fact I forgot to get fennel seeds. I added a little more mustard. Then went and got the fennel. I have never really used fennel seeds so I wasn't sure how much flavor they would add. What a difference they made.

So finally put the sandwich together. I made mine HUGE!!!! So this is the picture of Tracy's sandwich. The kids didn't want the coleslaw and here is what the critics had to say.

Amanda- Yummmm....
Emma-- Thanks Mom this is really good!!!! ( I am NOT eating the coleslaw.!)
Corrina - this is good, but like Emma spit out the bite of coleslaw I made them try (it wasn't even a bite but one piece of cabbage.)
Keneson- This is really good Tees....
Tracy - WOW honey, the fennel seeds did make a huge difference on the coleslaw, and the toasted bun is perfect... We are making this again!!!!

ME----OMG...mmmmm... this is goofff.... (my mouth was full)

We will totally make this again!!!!!

Huddle up!!!! 3, 2, 1 ... START COOKIN!!!!

Should be Chicken Pot Stickers by Teressa

I say "should be" because I bought pork. Let me say I have NEVER had a pot sticker before nor did I have any idea what they were... I have a little better idea now. If asked to describe them I would have to say that they are little packages of YUM!!!!!!

I had just walked in the door and everyone was yelling... FINALLY LETS EAT!!!! So I started the process. The recipe (page 90, of Cook this NOT that) said it takes a total of 10 minutes. And I think that was a very accurate statement. I started at 7:00p.m. and it is now 7:50p.m. (cooking and eating time.) I know Erin made this same recipe but didn't add the mushrooms. I did. The were not Shiitake because Walmart didn't have them so they were just regular. The recipe calls for 4 oz. I would add more but I like mushrooms.

Here is what the critics say ( we have two guest critics tonight) first while it was cooking.
Emma--- MOM! are you cooking a skunk? it stinks!!!!! ( my guess is the sesame oil I was using to cook the mushrooms...
Tracy- I think your right Emm..
The other two were to busy. Then when I said it was dinner time. Emma came in holding her nose.... Man she can be dramatic!

So for the meal.
Emma, I am NOT eating this... But she was forced to try and she still didn't like it.But if asked she like the chicken(? what it was pork!)

Corrina, Liked the pot sticker part, but hated the peppers, green beans.... (actually they are sugar snap peas.)

Keneson- I got a stuck out tongue and then he said, "I like the big thing."

Tracy- Thought it was good but needs more sauce.

last ME- I loved it!!!!! I agree with Tracy the sauce needed to be put on a little different than I did it but YUM!!!!!! I will totally fix this again. (and the kids can have chicken fingers!)

1 2 3 Start Cookin!!!!!

Chicken and Pork Pot Stickers - Erin

OMG....You HAVE to make these pot stickers!!! They are soooo yummy!!! I hate to post this before Teressa because she's making it tonight too, but I have time now. I hope she likes them as much as I did!

I wouldn't have thought pot stickers were as healthful as they are! This recipe is on page 90 of Cook This, Not That!, and I did switch it up just a bit. The recipe calls for shiitake mushrooms, and I hate mushrooms. I left them out. The recipe also calls for Sriracha, a chili sauce which originates in Thailand. I left that out because it was for the family. I didn't want it to be spicy. I added a bit more soy sauce than was called for, but other than those changes, I made it exactly as written. ;) OH! I also made some brown rice to put it on. I didn't have mine with brown rice, but Jase and Madeline did.

Here's what the critics had to say about the pot stickers:

Madeline - "It was okay, but I didn't like it." (She ate all of it, though.)
Riley - I'm not sure if Jase tried to give her any, but I am sure she wouldn't have eaten them
if he had.
Jase - "I thought it was good. I didn't taste any difference between the chicken and the pork,
and I thought the brown rice tasted just like white rice."
Erin - "YUM YUM YUM!!! I liked the pork better than the chicken. I can't wait to make this
again!"











Here is what this cost:

Soy Sauce - I already had this on hand.
Sesame Oil - I already had this on hand.
Asian Pot Stickers - $2.68 a box (I bought three boxes but should have only bought two)
Sugar Snap Peas - $2.63 (I bought fresh instead of frozen)
Rice Wine Vinegar - $1.82
Brown Rice - $1.50
Sesame Seeds - $3.74

This recipe will get cheaper now that I have plenty of sesame seeds and rice wine vinegar on hand. :)

Please try this recipe! I'd love to hear what you think!! Three, Two, One, "Start Cookin'!"

Buff Smoothie - Erin

Okay, so this post is kind of cheating. It's totally not about a recipe from one of the 3 cookbooks we'll be working with. That's okay, right? :) If I find something else that's either great or terrible, I'm going to share it with you.

A few weeks ago, Jase recorded a Good Eats episode about how Alton Brown, the host, lost a buncha weight. In the episode, Alton said you should start every day with something purple, and then he shared a smoothie recipe that he says made him buff....hence, Buff Smoothie.

It sounded really good, so I thought I'd try it. I got all the stuff at the store on Monday, but I had to wait for the bananas to ripen before making it. I'm really, really picky about bananas. I love them, but only for a short window of time. Once they were ripe, I stuck them in the freezer. Also, I had to improvise a bit because we don't have a blender that works. One broke, the other is missing a piece. Wanna know what I used instead? My food processor. Sounds weird, but it worked perfectly.

Here's what the critics had to say about the smoothie:

Madeline - "I think it was very good."

Riley - She actually drank it and wanted more!

Jase - "I thought it was really good. Tasty. Couldn't even taste the soy milk."

Erin - "Yum! I didn't think it would fill me up, but it did."

Here is what this recipe cost:

Soymilk - $2.34 (only used 1/2 c. per serving)

Bananas - $1.37 (only used 1/2 per serving)

Frozen Peaches - $2.66 (uses 1/2 c. per serving)

Frozen Strawberries - $2.68 (uses 1/2 c. per serving)

Frozen Blueberries - $3.08 (uses 1/2 c. per serving)

Grape Juice - $2.98 (uses 1/2 c. per serving)

I'm guessing I could make 6 smoothies with the ingredients I bought. So, the cost per serving is $2.52.

You should make this smoothie. It's really good and really good for you!! You can find Alton's recipe here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/buff-smoothie-recipe/index.html

Three, Two, One..."Start Cookin'!"

Grilled Salmon with Ginger Soy Butter - Erin

After my quinoa disaster the other night, it took me a bit to cook another recipe. I know Teressa liked the huevos rancheros she made, but the quinoa was so bad...really bad...

The salmon recipe (Page 178 of Cook This, Not That!) called for a grill or grill pan. I didn't want to make Jase go outside to grill at this time of year, plus our grill isn't in the best of shape. So, I bought a George Foreman grill the other night. My friend, Mary, has one, and she uses hers all the time. I was honestly a little surprised at how expensive they were. You couldn't buy one for less than $30 (I was hoping to spend about $25), and they had some that were close to $100! I bought one that had been marked down to $39.88. It was large enough I could cook meat for all 3 of us (Riley usually just shares), and it has an adjustable heat thing on the top. The only negative was that the grill parts aren't removable. It would be easier to clean if they were.

So, I set out this afternoon to make salmon for the first time on my GF grill I used for the first time. :) I would say both were a success...one more than the other. Can you guess which one?

I love my GF grill! It preheated in just a minute or so, and it cooked the salmon in 5-7 minutes. I was impressed and will definitely use it again! The salmon was good...SOOOOO much better than the quinoa. :) It was grilled with a little olive oil and salt. The ginger soy butter made a tasty little sauce at the end. The ginger soy butter called for chives, which I couldn't find at Wal-Mart. I substituted Italian parsley that I had left over from the quinoa. I bought frozen salmon fillets which I defrosted in the fridge. I just made sure I dried them off really well before I put the olive oil and salt on them. Below you will see the cost of the ingredients and the pictures.

Salmon (four 4-6 oz. fillets) $3.50

Butter $2.08 (used only 2 T)

Ginger $.42 (used less than half of what I purchased)

Lemon $.33

Soy Sauce $2.52 (used only 1.5 T)

That's only $2.21 a serving!! (Plus I have lots of butter, soy sauce, and ginger left!)

I made my favorite broccoli to go on the side. It's a recipe from Good Eat's Alton Brown. It is so simple and makes the most delicious broccoli!! You can find that recipe here...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/pan-steamed-broccoli-recipe/index.html

Here is what the critics had to say about Grilled Salmon with Ginger Soy Butter:

Madeline - "It's okay, but I don't love it."

Riley - wouldn't touch it (I think you're going to find this is almost always her response)

Jason - "I liked it. It was good."

Erin - "It was good. I will make it again and look for other salmon recipes."

So, followers (we're up to 11!!!), on the count of three, "Start Cookin'!" One, Two, Three, "Start Cookin'!"

Coming Soon... - Erin

I am making a salmon dish tonight. Can you believe I've never made salmon? I will be grilling it using my new George Foreman grill. I've never had one of those either! :) Tonight will be a time for two firsts!!

Check back tonight for the results. :)

Quinoa Pilaf - Erin

Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wa) - a South American grain that is loaded with protein and amino acids

The Cook This, Not That! cookbook lists quinoa as the 2nd healthiest carb...right behind bulger. I thought it should definitely be on my list of things to try if it's that good for me. I have never heard of it, didn't know how to pronounce it, and had NO IDEA where to buy it. I looked it up on dictionary.com to hear how to say it before I called around to see where to buy it. It's a good thing I did that because the places I called wouldn't have had a clue what I was talking about! Luckily, the first place I called, Whole Foods, had it. Not only did Whole Foods have quinoa, they had 3 different kinds of quinoa. I chose the organic quinoa which happened to also be the least expensive ($5).

The recipe for Quinoa Pilaf is on Page 294 of Cook This, Not That!, and I decided to make it as a side dish to my pan seared chicken breast and green bean dinner. When I poured the quinoa into a colander to rinse it, Jase commented that it looked like bird seed...and he was right! I thought it had to look better once it was cooked...I was wrong. :)

It was not difficult to make, although it called for some ingredients I don't keep around the house (pine nuts and golden raisins). It didn't take long. I was scared to try it, but Madeline and Jason dug right in. Here are our reviews:

Madeline - "It tastes good." (but she only took one bite and wouldn't eat any after that)
Jason - "I thought it was alright." (but he has a cold and can't breathe through his nose)
Riley - wouldn't touch it

Erin - Two Thumbs Down. I like the raisins and the pine nuts, but the quinoa had a weird taste and an even weirder consistency. I didn't eat more than a few bites. I won't say that I'll never make quinoa again, but I definitely won't be making it any time soon!

This recipe has 230 calories per serving with 7 grams of fat (1 g saturated fat). It cost:

quinoa - $5 (I have enough left for another recipe)
golden raisins - $2.48 (tons left)
pine nuts - $3.84 (lots left)
parsley - $.66
carrots - $.74 (only used 1)
onion - $.67 (only used half)

chicken stock - $2

So, I've now finished my first recipe. :) On the count of 3, "Start Cookin'!" One, Two, Three, "Start Cookin'!"

1 Cookbook...Week 1

Teressa and I talked a lot about what cookbooks we would use. It's important you know that Teressa is a serious cookbook collector. I'm not sure she uses them often, but she has a lot, and she LOVES them! :)

We were both pretty clear on what we wanted from a cookbook...something simple with recipes our family would eat that didn't require tons of ingredients or anything expensive. We talked about all our favorite Food Network chefs. Paula Deen...too much butter. Rachel Ray...too many ingredients. Sandra Lee...been there done that. We like some of the newer people, Ann Burrell, Claire Robinson, but they don't have cookbooks out.

So, we met at Barnes & Noble this weekend, and we pulled every cookbook off the shelf that looked interesting. We sat in the cafe and previewed them all over coffee. The first one we unanimously chose was Cook This, Not That! by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding.


Maybe you've seen some of their Eat This, Not That! books? They're interesting. Unfortunately I haven't followed their advice much, but the books are worth checking out. I have to say, I love their cookbook!! There is a lot of helpful information before you get to the recipes. The authors rate food by it's healthfulness (is that a word?). They include cereal, carbs, meat, dairy, etc. The book gives you kitchen utensils you should have, and helps you create the perfect pantry. The book is well written. It's helpful, interesting, and funny. (One part that made me laugh out loud talked about leaving a stick of butter and a stick of margarine on the counter. The butter gets runny which natural fats should do. The margarine, "looks like Tori Spelling's bust - unnaturally firm.")

The recipes are great! One thing that made this cookbook stand out was something many cookbooks have surprisingly few of...pictures. This has a color picture for every recipe! The recipes are divided into chapters (breakfast, appetizers and small bites, soups and salads, sandwiches and burgers, off the grill, pasta, American classics, ethnic dishes, sides snacks & sauces, and desserts and drinks).

Needless to say, you will definitely be able to find things you like in this cookbook. So, we chose this book for Week 1. We will each cook at least 3 recipes from this cookbook, and 1 of those 3 we will both make on the same night. You will get 2 different perspectives on 1 recipe!

So, to our 8 faithful followers (only 1 of which is a family member, thank you very much), get ready for our journey. We are thrilled you've decided to join us!!

On three, "Start Cookin'!" One, Two, Three..."Start Cookin'!"

Day 1 Recipe 1 - by Teressa

What better way to start the morning with a great breakfast. It would have been great served to me in bed but, since that wasn't going to happen.
We made Huevos Rancheros. I say we because I can't make a sunny side up egg. So my lovely husband had to cook the eggs but I did the rest. This recipe came out of the Cook This Not That Cookbook.


As I gathered all the ingredients, I was visited by Tracy who asked where the meat was... Um... there is no meat in this recipe. Then he said you know I like to eat meat right? Yes dear... Also I was visited by Emma who wanted to help cook. Until she saw the beans and chipotles. Then she declared that she would not eat that and wanted a frozen waffle instead.


So I got busy. It was super fast and really quite easy to do. I started making the salsa that goes on top in my little food processor and then had to move to my blender. Cried while I cut the onions, Emma brought me swimming goggles to help. Then called Tracy to come cook the eggs. Here it is.... doesn't it look yummy? Well it was.


The critics had to say this...
Emma- I AM NOT EATING THAT!
Amanda- I don't like beans. but the egg and the salsa stuff was really good.
Tracy- It was good and would be a ton better with a pork chop
ME - OH this actually is GOOD!


Somethings I learned while making this recipe.

1. I have the dullest knife in the world!!! NO really! I think my finger could have chopped stuff better than that stupid knife.
2. I really do like black beans
3. When I don't know the recipe I make a huge mess by using every piece of kitchen equipment I own.

I hope this inspires you to try something new today....

LETS COOK!!!!!!!

Our Mission Begins...

Our mission began with one simple movie, Julie & Julia. Have you seen it? NO?!? Go rent it NOW! Better yet, buy it. You will want to watch it over and over! Meryl Streep and her award-winning performance inspired us to do our own version of Julie & Julia.

In Julie & Julia, Julie sets out to conquer Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking. She made something like 500 recipes in 365 days. Needless to say, we aren't quite that ambitious. We want to cook some recipes from cookbooks we like and see how it goes. Here's what you can expect from us:

• We will cook at least 3 meals a week from the 3 cookbooks we've chosen.
• We will post pictures, tips, tricks, reviews, etc.
• We will do our best to inform and entertain you.
• We will even switch things up occasionally by letting you read posts from guest chefs and/or faithful followers.

You won't find any fussy recipes here...nothing with names that are hard to pronounce or ingredients you can't find at your local grocery store. We are going to cook simple recipes even our picky eaters will eat! We definitely won't be cooking things that stick out from Julie & Julia...beef gelatin, anyone? Steamed lobster...nope!

We aren't taking this mission lightly. Although we fancy ourselves chefs, we have no real cooking talent. Our food is edible (and we know this because we force our kids to eat it), but we find we make the same meals over and over. We are ready for some variety!

Soon we'll let you know a little about the cookbooks we chose after exhaustive Internet and bookstore research! :) I know it will be difficult to wait, but you have no choice. ;)

Now, let's all gather around for our sign off. Come closer...we won't bite! Put your hands on top of ours in the center of our huddle. On the count of three, say "Start Cookin'!"

One...

Two...

Three...

"Start Cookin'!"