At Home with Kristi

I started making this a few months ago and its now one of Matthew’s favorites.

1. Brown 1 pound of lean ground beef

2. Add 1 packet of taco seasoning and 1/2 cup of water

3. Simmer for 5 minutes

4. Put the ground beef in the bottom of a casserole dish in an even layer

5. Take 2 small tortillas and cut them into smallish pieces (I use these low carb ones) and layer on top of the meat

6. Next take a can of refried beans (I use the fat free version) and spread over the tortilla layer

7. Next, add a layer of salsa

8. Cover the whole thing with a nice layer of cheese, I like to use a 2% milk Colby Jack

9. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes

10. Remove from the oven and let sit at least 5 minutes before cutting into it

11.  Serve with some Light sour cream and some fabulous guacamole

Guacamole is delicious and easy to make.  The homemade version is so much better than the store bought stuff.  Give it a try, you’ll thank yourself.

Ingredients

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 medium tomato
• 1/4  of a large onion
• 3 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cilantro
• Juice of one lime
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/2 tsp dried chili pepper
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

First of all, make sure your avocado’s are ripe.  They should be soft but not mushy when you press on the skin.

Using a large knife, cut through the avocado lengthwise all the way around, then twist and pull to revel the pit.

Next, lay the avocado with the pit facing up on a cutting board and take a large knife and swing it down into the avocado pit hard enough so that it goes into the pit about 1/8 of an inch.

Now twist and pull and the pit will pop right out (the riper your avocado the easier the pit releases)

Take a dish towel and grasp the pit and pull it off the knife.

Now take a smaller knife and score all of your avocado halves.

Using a spoon scoop out the avocado into a bowl

Repeat with all remaining avocado halves. You will be left with a pile of cute little avocado skin boats!

Now take a medium tomato and quarter it

Take each quarter and using your knife held horizontally to the cutting board, slice under the seeds and core, leaving just the meat of the tomato (tomato seeds in guacamole are just not good)

Dice up the tomato meat

I like chunky guac, but make the pieces of vegetable as large or small as you want

Dice 1/4 of a large to medium onion and add it to the bowl

Add 3 cloves or about 1 tbsp of chopped garlic to the bowl

I like to use a combination of lime and lemon juice in my guacamole.  You will need one lime and half a lemon

Cut the lime and squeeze the juice into the bowl, do the same with half of the lemon.

Next comes the spices

add the cilantro (use fresh if you have it, but dried works ok too), salt, pepper and dried ground chili pepper.

Stir well to combine.  The more you stir the smoother it will get, so use your own discretion there.

I recommend refrigerating it overnight for best results.

I have had this recipe floating around in my head for a couple weeks now and finally got around to making it today

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh basil
• 1 ounce pistachio nuts
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 ounces freshly grated parmesean cheese
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 4 ounce marinated artichoke hearts
• 6 ounces cooked chicken breast
• dash Kosher salt
• 1 package mini Phyllo shells

Procedure

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Grate the cheese

Put the basil in the food processor and give it a spin

Add in the garlic and nuts and about half the cheese

Slowly drizzle in the olive oil (while the food processor is running)

Add the artichokes and salt

Process until nice and creamy

Mmmmm….

Get your chicken ready.  I used the Tyson Grilled and Ready diced chicken I had in the freezer, any kind of chicken breast will do though

Take out about half of the pesto mixture and put it in a bowl

Leave the rest of the Pesto in the food processor and add the chicken.  Pulse until the chicken is chopped up. Next time I will leave mine a bit courser than this

Remove from the food processor and put in the bowl with the rest of the pesto and mix well

Fill the Phyllo tart shells with the mixture and sprinkle with a bit of the remaining cheese

Arrange on a baking sheet

Bake for 12-13 minutes then turn to broil for 1 minute

Enjoy!

Nutritionals per 2 mini tarts (approximate)

This is a variation  of this recipe

(Printable version coming soon)

First, I grated some Romano cheese

I used about 2/3 of a cup of grated romano and a little over 1/2 cup of mozerella

Spread that on the bottom of a pizza pan (with sides) that has been sprayed with non-stick spray

Next measure out 6 oz of low fat cream cheese and put it in the mixer with 4 whole eggs, 1 tsp of Italian seasoning and 1 tsp garlic powder and mix until smooth

Then pour the liquid mixture over the cheese on the pan

Put that in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes

Meanwhile, I made some homemade pizza sauce because all the commercial sauces I found had lots of sugar, but feel free to use whatever kind you want.

I started with tomato puree

Then added

• a few cloves of crushed garlic
• 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp fresh basil
• 1 packet of Splenda

Then I set that to simmer while I got my toppings ready

Use whatever you want, as long as its low carb. I used a mix of regular and turkey pepperoni, onions, green olives and mozerella

Your crust should be about ready to come out of the oven now, it will be golden brown

Spread it with your pizza sauce

Load on the toppings

Sprinkle on the cheese

And return to the 350 degree oven for another 10 minutes

Remove and marvel at how good it looks

Slice it and serve

It really does taste like pizza, not “eggy” at all.

Every cook has one that that they make THE BEST.  Mine is my cream pie.  This past Thanksgiving even though we had burritos for dinner, I still made pie, okay, pies, I think I made 3.  A few days after Thanksgiving when we had some friends over for dinner I served leftover coconut cream pie for dessert and the loved it.  They loved it so much they asked me to teach them to make it. It really is a simple recipe, all it takes is time and patience.

So here is  your weekend project

Printable Recipe

Cream Pie Base (Vanilla Custard)

• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 cups milk
• 4 egg yolks
• ¼ cup PLUS 2 tbsp. Cornstarch
• ¼ tsp. Salt
• 2 tbsp. Butter
• 1 tsp. Vanilla

Directions

• In a saucepan (I like to use a heavy one that conducts heat well) combine, sugar, cornstarch and salt.
• Add the milk and egg yolks.  Turn the burner on LOW heat and whisk ingredients together until no lumps are present.
• Still using the whisk stir slowly, and constantly.

• Slowly increase the heat over the next 15 minutes,  (but not going over medium or you WILL burn the custard and come out with a nasty mess) continuing to stir constantly.
• After about 15 minutes the mixture will start to thicken, watch closely for the first bubble to appear.  When the first bubble appears to indicate that it is boiling, set a timer for one minute (no more, no less) and stir the mixture, at a slow boil for one minute.
• After the one-minute take the mixture off the heat and add the butter and vanilla.
• This is now finished vanilla custard, which can be made into several delicious kinds of pies.

Coconut Cream Pie

Add ¾ cup of shredded coconut to the mixture after it is finished and pour into 2 pre-baked pie shells (the Pillsbury ones are awesome, really close to homemade).

Chill for at least 1 hour

Then top with whipped cream and toasted coconut. (see below)

Mini pies made in cupcake cups are also amazing

Banana Cream Pie

Slice 4 medium sized bananas into ¼ inch pieces and place them to completely cover 2 pre-baked pie shells.  Pour the finished custard on top and chill for at least 1 hour before serving

Chocolate Cream Pie

Melt 1-½ cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips and add to the finished mixture.  Pour into two pre-baked pie shells and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.  Can be topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Pumpkin Cream Pie

Add 1 cup of pureed pumpkin and 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie seasoning to the finished mixture and pour into two pre-baked pie shells.

Whipped Cream Topping

• 1 quart heavy cream
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/3 cup of powdered sugar

Directions

• In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment (or using a hand mixer of you don’t have a stand mixer, or if no other options are available, I have done this BY HAND before, I don’t recommend it), pour the COLD whipping cream. IF using a bowl never use a plastic bowl, your cream won’t whip properly.
• Start the  mixer off on the second to lowest setting and let it go for a minute or so then add the cream of tartar
• Increase the speed (to about medium) and let it whip for about 2 minutes

• Start adding the powdered sugar a few tablespoons at a time, letting each addition mix well, this is a very personal taste thing, I think I usually add somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 cup of sugar, you want it to be LIGHTLY sweetened else it will overpower the nice custard.
• Be careful not to over whip the cream, you want it still, but not unspreadable, and defiantly not butter!
• If your pie is not cool yet you can stick the bowl in the the refrigerator for up to an hour

Toasting Coconut

I like to use slightly stale coconut to toast, it toasts better.

Spread about 1/2 cup of shredded coconut on a baking sheet, park under the broiler for about 45 seconds.  Watch it CLOSELY it burns in a heartbeat and oy does that stink!

You are limited only by your imagination, this recipe is very versatile.

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
• 1 cups skim milk
• 1 large banana, very ripe, mashed*
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp apple pie spice
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

* When bananas are going bad, instead of throwing them out put them in the freezer.  Don’t do anything to them, just straight in the freezer.  When you need bananas to make banana bread or banana pecan pancakes, just pop how many you need out of the freezer, let thaw on the counter for about 20 minutes, then slice down the skin and peel it off.  They will be mushy and ready for your recipe! Oh, they turn BLACK inside the freezer, that is okay!

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together until just combined.  There will be a few lumps in the batter, that’s okay!

1. Heat a pan or griddle and coat it with butter
2. Ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle into about 6″ circles                                                                                                                                                                        
3. Cook until the edges of the pancake look slightly dry and there are dryish bubbles on top of the pancake (like this).  Be careful not to have the pan too hot and not to overcook
4. Flip the pancakes and cook an additional minute or so
5. If you are working in batches, move the cooked pancakes to a sheet pan in a 200 degree oven to hold while you finish
6. Serve with maple syrup and bacon!

Ingredients

• 1 pork tenderloin (about a pound)
• 1/4 cup Lysanders pork rub (or seasoning of your choice)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp flour
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 cup water or stock
• 1 ounce chopped prosciutto
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp thyme

Directions

1. Cut the pork tenderloin into 1/2 inch thick slices (its best to slice it when is very cold)

2. Coat the pork medallions with the seasoning mix (its easiest to put the seasoning or rub in a zip top back and shake it!)

3. Sear the pork medallions on both sides. Don’t be shy, get a GOOD sear on there!

4.  Next, move the pork medallions to a casserole dish (oh, and preheat the oven to 375)

5. In the still hot pan, place the vegetable oil

6. Add in the flour and stir it around to make a roux

7. Once you have the roux made, add the wine and water (or stock)

8. Add the prosciutto and mix in the herbs and spices and let simmer for about 5 minutes

9. Pour the sauce over the pork medallions in the casserole dish and bake at 375 for about 25 minutes.

10. Serve with rice

Printable Recipe

Cut 3/4 to 1 lb of chicken into small pieces

Place 1/4 cup of flour, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper in a ziplock bag, then place the chicken in the bag and shake to coat

Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large pot.  Once hot add the chicken and flour mix and stir occasionally until brown the chicken

Once the chicken has browned, add 1 cup of chicken broth

Cut one large russet potato into medium large chunks

Add the potatoes to the pot

Next add in about 2/3 of a package (about 5 oz)  of dried cheese tortellini

Add the tortellini to the pot along with 2 cups water, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1 tsp rosemary, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic  and salt to taste.

Simmer for at least an hour, the longer the better, I think it would also be good in a crock pot.

I served mine with some fresh baked bread.

Here are two quick yet tasty, weeknight dinners, under 30 minutes each.

A co-worker and I had been talking about Swedish meatballs but I didn’t have all of the ingredients for that, so I made this instead.

Meatballs in Mushroom Gravy

Ingredients

1. 1lb ground beef (lean)
2. 1/2 medium onion chopped
3. 1/4 cup egg substitute
4. 1/4 cup bread crumbs
5. 1 tsp salt
6. 1/2 tsp black pepper
7. 1 tsp paprika
8. 1 tsp garlic powder
9. 1/2 tsp ground cumin
10. 1 can cream of mushroom soup
11. 1 cup chicken stock

Directions

Mix the first 9  ingredients together in a bowl

Tip: you can use whatever spices you want, I used what came handy that night.

Then either using a tablespoon or a small disher, make them into meatballs and put them in a pan sprayed with non-stick spray

Cook until they are browned all over (turning once or twice during the process to get a good crust all the way around), should take about 15 minutes.

Mix the mushroom soup and chicken broth together and pour over the meatballs

Simmer for about 10 minutes while you boil some egg noodles

Serve over egg noodles.

Pork Cube Steak

Ingredients

• 1/2 to 3/4 pound pork cube steak
• 2/3 cup milk or butter milk
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika

Directions

Marinate the pork in the milk or buttermilk overnight (I am not counting this time in the 30 minutes obviously)

Mix the flour and seasonings together on a plate

Dredge the cube steaks in the flour mixture and put them in a HOT pan

Turn once at about 7 or 8 minutes

Serve with mashed potatoes and some canned low fat pork gravy (I like the Heinz brand)

A few days ago Matthew asked me what we were having for dinner. “Chicken Picatta” I said.

“What’s that?”

“Chicken in white wine and lemon sauce”

Matthew gives me a skeptical look.

“It will be good, you’ll like it.”

“It doesn’t  sound very good” he said, looking kind of sad.

“Trust me, you’ll like it”

“Ok” he said, still looking sad.

So I…..

Mixed 1/3 of a cup of flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and  1/2 tsp garlic powder in a bowl

Pounded some chicken breasts out flat

Dredged the chicken in the flour mixture

Melted 1tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan

Put the chicken in the pan

Waited a few minutes and flipped it over

Waited until it was nice and golden and removed it to a plate

and proceeded to make the sauce

You are supposed to use “rinsed capers”.  For those of you who have never worked with capers, they are tiny, not easy to rinse. Here is how I did it.

I then added the capers, about 3 tbsp worth, to the juice of one lemon, 1/2 cup of white wine and 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

Now, I am going to deviate for a moment and tell you what I SHOULD have done, not what I DID.

Remember the pan you cooked your chicken in?  Look at all the yummy butter and chicken bits left in it.

Mmmmm….

Okay, stop drooling and take about a tablespoon (maybe two depending on how much oil/butter is left in the pan) and make a roux.  I can’ t show you this, because I didnt do it, and my sauce did not get thick so I had to add the flour in after and do many tiring things to get the lumps out.  So do as I say, not as I do.  Once you have the flour incorporated into the oil in a roux, add the liquids (and capers).

And you’ll get a sauce that looks much nicer than this one

Now I returned the chicken to the pan for a few minutes to heat back up and get all saucy!

Finally I plated it up with a bit of pasta with the sauce over it, some crusty bread that I toasted a bit and a Caesar salad.

Then we sat down to eat.

A few minutes later Matthew looked over at me and says ‘This is good.”

“I told you so” may have slipped out.  I am only human after all.

Get the pdf of this recipe