I’ve moved!

Hello Friends and Neighbors!  Can you hear me?  Is anyone still out there? 

I know.  I know.  I’ve been AWOL for some time now.  I really don’t have a good excuse.  Just, you know, got busy with work, went to Disney, the holidays, went to Disney again, work, went to Boston, planted my garden and a ton of pots and plants, and just plain ran out of time. 

BUT I have to confess that I have been cheating on you a little bit.  However, I still feel the need to chronicle my culinary adventures. . . SO I started an instagram account.  You can find me by searching for my user:  allaboutmycharmedlife  If I was fancy I would post the link for you 🙂  I also post under #eatwell and #savor 

 

 

Hope to see you soon 🙂

Dreamy Butternut Squash Mac n Cheese

I guess technically this is shells and cheese.

Warning:  I think this dish might be the reason I didn’t lose any weight last week.  But I am not going to hold that against it.

Isn’t it beautiful?  2.5 pounds of squash, 6 garlic cloves, sprig of thyme, 2 cups of almond milk, and 2 cups of chicken stock.   Cook the squash until tender.  If you’re lucky enough to have an immersion blender this would be the time to pull it out.

Cook a pound of small pasta and then combine with the puree.

At this point I was pretty sure that I had just made soup with some pasta.

Never underestimate the power of the oven:  cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes at 375.

Top with a mixture of panko, garlic, parsley, and salt.  If you’re using garlic don’t make the mistake I made.  It seems that I always wind up with really strong garlic when it’s not going to be cooked.  Add a touch of Gruyere and put it under the broiler for five or ten minutes.

Even my husband liked this, until I made the mistake of telling him that it was squash.

I should disclose that some salt wouldn’t hurt.

Candice Kumai/Cook Yourself Sexy

Eat Well and Savor.

 

 

Gone Bananas Chocolate Oatmeal

Isn’t interesting how the most simple things are the most amazing?

I highly recommend natural peanut butter.  CK suggested it, but I read right past it; so this one is my beloved honey roast Peter Pan.  The next three days (and into eternity) I used (and will use in futuro) the natural version.  I also used Ghiradelli Midnight Reverie.  I couldn’t resist the name.

Don’t forget the moderation:  one serving is half of a banana, one square of chocolate, two teaspoons of peanut butter, 3/4 teaspoon of brown sugar.  Oh, and 1/2 cup of oatmeal cooked to your liking.  The magic number is 335 calories!

In case my opinion isn’t clear:  this was a perfect fall breakfast that I will be repeating many times until next spring.

Candice Kumai/Cook Yourself Sexy

Eat Well and Savor.

Banana Doughnuts

With Banana Frosting.  And they’re gluten-free.  Well, at least the flour was gluten-free.  I’m no expert in the field, though.

This recipe is actually baked.   I need to use these pans more often.

The instructions say to fill them three-quarters full.  Of course I disobeyed.   Why does the recipe make so much if you don’t need it?

Don’t panic.

I’m sure you can find someone to eat the holes.

One other thing:  I suspect that the fact that these aren’t fried might be negated by the fact that there’s shortening in the frosting.

Eat Well and Savor.

Chicken and Tomato Stew

With Toasted Polenta.

I took a bunch of pictures at the time I made this.  I was moved by the smell of the onions and the perfectly browned chicken, but you’ve seen it all before.  Even after you add the tomatoes and the red wine the pictures aren’t that thrilling.

Yet for some reason I deem this lump of polenta worthy for your viewing pleasure.  You’re welcome.

This recipe is from Brian Boitano’s book.  I would like to point out that it calls for one whole 5-pound chicken.  I didn’t feel the need to cut up a bird; so I bought some pieces that added up to about five pounds.  It was two huge breasts, four thighs, and five drumsticks.  I’m pointing this out because the recipe says it serves four.  Now, I realize I probably had more pieces, but even looking at just the polenta and sauce alone this turned into at least six servings.

Also, I don’t want to jump on the oh-this-is-fall bandwagon, but this is a nice hearty meal for this time of year.

Eat Well and Savor.

Braised Chuck Roast

I am a firm believer in celebrating your birthday for a whole weekend or sometimes even a week.  In fact, I had a friend wish me a happy birthmonth yesterday.  What’s this got to do with chuck roast, you say?  One of my favorite dishes that my mom used to make was a chuck roast with brown potatoes; so I decided I needed to treat myself for my birthday.  Of course this version was in the crock pot and my mom’s was one of those electric skillet masterpieces, but close enough.

You’ll never guess what the secret ingredient is; so I’m just going to come right out and tell you:  gingersnaps.

Give six of these a spin in the food processor and then toss them in the crock pot.

Add eight ounces of baby carrots.

Two stalks of celery.

One onion.

And then the good stuff:  one cup of dry red wine, two tablespoons of red wine vinegar, and then 1/4 cup of raisins.  Don’t forget the S&P.  If my mom knew about the gingersnaps she would disapprove.  If she knew about the raisins I’m pretty sure she would just refuse to eat it.

Add a two-pound boneless chuck roast and turn on the crock pot.  Six hours on high did the trick for me.

This was around the three-hour mark.  Man, did it smell good.

My mom’s version didn’t really have a sauce.  I’m not ashamed to say that I used to douse it ketchup.

I just had to add some little boiled potatoes.

And here’s the best news:  it comes in under 400 calories, without the potatoes.

Eat Well and Savor.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Otherwise known as Waikiki Meatballs, at least in my book.

This is one of the Top 20 recipes that my mom used to make.  I made this version in the slow cooker from the Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly cookbook.  This recipe is very similar.  My mom used to make hers in the electric skillet.  Now that’s a blast from the past.  Do they even make electric skillets anymore?

It’s pretty basic stuff.  I actually used a 20-ounce can of pineapples.  I just can’t get enough.

In my opinion, rice is mandatory.  Without the rice it comes in at 380 calories.

Eat Well and Savor.

 

 

 

Tres Leches Boston Cream Cake

If you think it looks gooey then you’re right.

Yeah, there are a few lumps in the chocolate.  So what.

Tres leches means three milks.  This is actually a cake mix that’s prepared with buttermilk; so if you ask me it’s four milks.  In my opinion, the sweetened condensed milk is the best milk.  Think about it.  Have you ever made anything with a can of that stuff that wasn’t freaking amazing.  Lately I’ve been putting it in my coffee.  Spread the word.

The chocolate on top is just a bag of semi-sweet chips that’s melted with half-and-half.

This recipe calls for an 18.25 ounce white cake mix.  I don’t buy a lot of cake mixes; so can someone please tell me when they got downsized to 15 or 16 ounces.  My guess is that it was sometime after I pulled this out of Coastal Living back in 2009.

Eat Well and Savor.

Shellfish and Okra Gumbo

Sometimes I struggle with a good opening line.  Today my progress is impeded by a really good episode of General Hospital.

I learned a thing or two about gumbo.  One is that you should start with a really dark roux, which explains why I had to sit on a stool and stir this goop for 20 minutes.  Goop being the roux, of course.

I also learned that gumbo with herbs used to be served on Good Friday and contains at least seven greens for good luck.  Not pictured:  parsley and scallions.

I still want to know where the tomatoes are, though.

It’s a good thing I love okra.  Let’s just say that I got Jake’s share too after he pushed them all aside.

Lucky for him there was some sausage too.

Another Comfort Food Fix from Ellie Krieger.

Eat Well and Savor.

 

 

 

Fried Confetti Corn

Warning:  This is not a light corn salad.

I guess the word fried and the bacon kind of gives that away.

As you know, I love the pretty colors.

Especially since that red pepper is one piece of the very small bounty from my garden.

That creamy goodness peeking out from under there is cream cheese, and a little half-and-half.  I actually used a block of reduced-fat cream cheese because I had it in the fridge.  Jake was none the wiser.

Just in case you couldn’t see all of the creamy goodness with all the bacon in the way.

One of my favorite dishes from my mom’s repertoire is creamed peas.  Of course I have to call her every Christmas and Easter when I want to make it; so I can’t give you the exact recipe right now.  I’m pretty sure it involves thickening butter and evaporated milk and then tossing in the peas.  Back in the day we would use fresh peas from the garden, but a bag of frozen works too.  Just so you know, the peas are not actually creamed/crushed, but they are encased in cream; so I guess that’s the reason for the name.

Anyway, the point is, I think this cream cheese version would work with peas too.  But you knew I would get to that after the rambling, didn’t you?

I almost forgot to tell you that this recipe came from Southern Living.  it was actually in the November issue, you know, for Thanksgiving.  I think it would be perfect with the turkey, but fresh corn is scarce that time of year, isn’t it?

Eat Well and Savor.