Salmon Feta Pasta

Salmon Feta Pasta

This is an adaptation from a recipe out of my Dieters Cookbook.

I saw this recipe and it looked so good, and it’s full of things I love, Salmon, Feta, Pasta, Tomato and Olive!

here is what you need:

some salmon, about a pound. more or less you could put as much in as you want I imagine

some tomatoes, I used 4 roma tomatoes

green onions (or scallions whatever you call them) about 5-6

half a block of feta cheese, about 4 oz

a small can of sliced olives ( I used the ones with jalapenos)

olive oil

1/2 a box (8oz dry) of rotini pastas

So you cook the pasta according to the box, drain and set aside, but try to keep it warm.

While it is cooking cut your salmon in to about 1 inch cubes and lightly sprinkle with salt, also cut up your tomatoes into bite size pieces. Chop the green peppers and cut the feta up. It may be easier to used pre-crumbled feta but that was more expensive for less, so I just cut it up.

Heat up a pan with a little olive oil and cook up the salmon until it is done, then add in your tomatoes, green onions and olives (drain the olive can first).

the recipe called for fresh basil, which I didn’t have so I sprinkled some dry basil on at this point. Cover the mix and let warm throughly, until onions are wilted.

Stir everything together, with the feta and a little olive oil (about 1tbsp) and you have an amazing, low calorie, light dinner!

Enchilada Soup

The last few weeks I’ve been throwing things in the crock pot and hoping for the best. Tonight it was a mish-mash of chicken and mexican stuff. 2 Chicken Breasts, canned olives w/jalapeno, can of rotel tomatoes (hot), can of roasted green chilies whole, and a can of enchilada sauce. Usually I use frozen chicken but I thawed it last night and never cooked it so I had to cook it today, the chicken was done after 4 hours on high, I imagine if it were frozen it would have been at least 2 more hours. I topped it with some strips of pepper jack cheese.

It turned out spicier than I thought it would, but still very good. There is enough for at least 4 people.
I shared mine with some stouffer mac and cheese, (made in the oven, as it should be) and dinner was fantastic!
How I did it:

2 chicken breasts

1 can enchilada sauce

1 small can of olives with jalapeno

1 small can of whole green chilies

1 can of rotel tomatoes Hot

all contents into crock pot on high for 4 hours, after 4 hours I spooned out the chicken and shredded it in a bowl, I also took out the green peppers and cut them down, this would have been easier had I done it prior to cooking. Then I added peppers and chicken back and stirred it up. I served in a bowl with some pepper jack cheese on top.

This would have been very good with a crunchy bread, or even rice.

Chicken Pesto Pizza

start with some pizza crust.

and roast yourself some veggies.

and cut up some chicken

make some pesto

spread it all over that crust of yours

put all that shit on it and throw it in the oven at 425*

once it’s all melty and yummy, cut it up and serve it up.

but first cover in sriacha

enjoy!

Christmas Turkey

Last nights dinner was OMG amazing. 

 

 

Turkey:

one 11-lb turkey

1/2 onion

3/4 orange

1/2 bottle of beer (amber)

(all herbs are dried)

crushed rosemary

Thyme

Garlic Powder

Mortons Seasoning Salt

Black Pepper

Rubbed Sage

 

 

I started with a beautiful naked turkey. 

 

I combined some dry ingredients

 and rubbed them under the breast skin and all over the sexy body

Then I shoved half a chopped yellow onion and 3/4 a quartered orange up it’s ass. 

I dribbled about 1/8 bottle of beer into the ass cavity.

Sexy Beer Turkey

 I cooked the bird at 420 for 20 min then reduced to 350 for 3 hours. 

 Throughout cooking I added small amounts of beer  beer and enough water to keep the bottom of the roasting pan wet.

 

Also tent that bad bird in foil when it gets golden brown to prevent the skin from burning. I think this also helps keep it moist. 

 

She’s lovely

So Lovely

Tender and juicy. 

I made the Cranberry Sauce from scratch.  

Cranberry Sauce:

3/4 cup water

1/2 container frozen OJ

1 bag of cranberries

1/2 orange

1/4 bottle of beer (amber)

3 tbsp sugar

 

bring frozen OJ and water to a boil. Add cranberries and reduce heat to a simmer, cook about 20 min or until it’s almost the consistency you like it. it will thicken a bit upon cooling. Allow to cool at room temperature for about 20-30 more min then transfer to fridge. 

 

it needed more sugar but I am trying to not be fat. 

 

seasoned mashed potatoes 

(no picture) 

boiled 5 quartered potatoes

with 

1/2 head of garlic peeled, separated and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1tbsp rosemary

1tbsp thyme

1/2 tbsp Morton’s seasoning salt

 

when you strain your potatoes much of the seasoning will drain out with the water but leaves a great flavor. Make sure you mash up the garlic with the potatoes

 

mash with some milk (and/or half and half) and butter 

 

oh and the potatoes tried to kill me. 

I burned myself on the boiling water. 

 

 I was boiling potatoes with herbs in the pot and all the herbs were stuck to the side of the pan, so i was using a turkey baster to rinse the herbs back into the boiling water. and I accidentally squirted the water out of the pot, onto myself. It was really stupid. And now I have this gross looking blistery burn on my stomach. 

 

So, don’t do that. 

Crock Pot Pork Roast

Below you will find my recipe for an almost all in one pot dinner.

Pork roast & potatoes with onions and garlic, all in one pot,

The only thing made separate was the gravy.

you’ll need:
a bone in piece of pork
a few red potatoes
an onion
some garlic
a few sprigs of rosemary
salt and pepper

for the gravy:
drippings from your pork roast
corn starch
milk
more salt and pepper

For the roast:
add all the ingredients into the crock, I put onions and garlic down first so they can cook fast and release their oniony goodness, with some rosemary for flavor.
Then add your meat and potatoes, more rosemary.
liberally add salt and pepper.
Put that crock on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.
Pork is done when it’s approx 160 degrees.

When all is done with your roast, take it all out and pour your drippings into a small pan, in a little cup mix cold water with about 1/2 tbsp of corn starch, once it’s mixed add it to your drippings. Turn the heat up to about med high and stir. when it starts to thicken add about 1/4 cup of milk and continue to stir until desired consistency is reached. If your gravy doesn’t thicken up add more cornstarch, mixing it with water first. But depending on how much drippings you have (I only had about 2 cups) you don’t want to add too much cornstarch or your gravy will be weird and gel like.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

High Altitude Corned Beef & Cabbage

I loved Corned Beef and cabbage, no matter what the holiday. It’s one of my favorite meals. I like to buy a couple right after St. Patricks day and freeze them for later in the year. I am a bit sad that this year I will not be able to stock up because we are getting ready to move.

We were well above sea level when we moved to Montana, but only the last year that we have lived in Butte, have we been “High – Altitude”. We about 6500 feet in the hills above the city. I have found cooking has become quite the pain in the ass. Everything takes longer, and most everything is dry. I don’t think I have made a successful roast since we moved here. Even in the crock pot things dry out faster because the air is thinner up here.

A couple corned beefs ago I did a brown sugar/mustard dry rub and it was amazing. I modified it a little this year because I don’t have any mustard in my fridge, only dry mustard.

(all ingredients are estimates, you can do more or less depending on the size of your corned beef)

3 1/2 pound pre-packaged corned beef

rub-

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1 tbsp pepper

1/2 tbsp dry mustard powder

dash of celery salt

packet of stuff that came with your corned beef

mix all the above ingredients in a bowl.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees

Place corned beef in a baking dish fat side up

squeeze about 2-3 tbsp of honey on the fat side of your corned beef and then sprinkle your rub on top of this, and then pat it down. You want to cover almost all the fatty tissue with your rub, you can go over the edges if you want, I didn’t.

after 2 hours I reduced the temperature to 300

cover your dish with lid or foil and place in oven for 3 1/2- 4 hours.

at 3 hours I added some small potatoes and raised the heat back to 325.

at 4 hours I added come cabbage wedges and placed back in the oven until they were soft (about 15-20 minutes)