Mardi Gras Gris Gris

Every year some 50 days before Easter Sunday the city of New Orleans parties so hard the whole place has to shut down for a few days.  When I say “shut down” I mean even banks, schools, and commercial institutions cease normal productivity to make way for the big P-rades!  I call parades, P-rades.  It just sounds cooler.  This year was no exception.  We partied, paraded, ate too much, caught beads, and even enjoyed a share of boiled crawfish.  Mardi Gras 2013 was a total success!

Mardi Gras 2013

Alas, Mardi Gras season came to an end and my waistline is quite relieved.  I’m sure you can relate.  It’s similar to the relief found when Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years holidays finally end.  With that I decided to grab a trashbag and clean the junk out of the fridge and pantry.  If I have it at home, I’m going to eat it.  It does not mean I can never have a treat.  There will be plenty enough chances/temptations encountered in the rest of life so I try to keep our home a safe healthy haven most of the time.

Mardi Gras Munchies and Libations

I’m happy when Mardi Gras season comes, I’m thrilled when it goes.  My goal is to eat clean all week, primarily non-processed foods.  Fruits and vegetables all the way.  Try this:  next time you fix a meal, think of making a rainbow.  Ideally, you want at least three colors on your plate.  For example, one of my favorite meals is a stuffed sweet potato (orange), roasted asparagus (green), and grapes for dessert (purple).  Additionally, stuffed sweet potatoes are easy and quick for the nights you get home late and stahvin’!  I “bake” mine by washing it, sticking it in a ziploc back with one inch unsealed, and then nuking it in the microwave for 5 minute increments until it’s nice and soft.  The bag locks the moisture in perfectly!  To stuff the potato try mixing two tablespoons of black beans, a tablespoon of light sour cream or plain greek yogurt, a tablespoon of salsa, a tablespoon of corn, and a tablespoon of avocado with your potato “guts” then stuff it back in the skin.  Top with cheese and broil until melted and bubbly in the toaster in oven. DEVOUR!

Southwest Stuffed Sweet Potato

The above picture is credited to FoodieBliss, a fellow female blogger whose recipes are simple to follow and totally tasty.  Click the link above and check her out.

So now that Lent season is in full effect, what are you sacrificing this year?  I chose to give up fried food which was fine in my mind until I realized that included french fries and kettle cooked chips.  I feel the cranky cravings kicking in any minute.  Poor Stuffed Husband.  Is it Easter yet?!

Peace, love, and Mardi Gras Detox,

The Hungry Wife

One year and two months later…

One year and two months ago I had this little blog.  I wrote about the food I loved and shared the who, what, when, where, and how.  My fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Laurel, would have been impressed with me for the development of my writing skills.  But I also have the attention span of a gnat.  Do gnats even have attention spans? I’m not clear on how that works.  So, as my attention wandered, so did my consistency with posting here.  Forgive me, I’m imperfect and still hungry.

Anyway, one year and two months later, I think I’m ready to get back at it…but there’s a twist this time.  I lost 26 pounds in 2012.  I wish I could tell you the pounds just fell off of me as I discovered easy ways to substitute my favorite “comfort foods” with healthy alternatives that tasted just as good.  It isn’t so.  I have yet to meet a healthy food that satisfies me like full fat mac and cheese.  Instead, I learned to treat food like fuel.  Indulgences are necessary for me.  It’s a fact, sparingly eating crap food and cheap beer make me a friendly wife.  The trick is to fill the rest of my meals with the good stuff (by good I mean healthy, just to clarify) and to treat indulgences as just that, a rare splurge earned with hard work and good looks.

weight loss 2012

After I started eating a slightly less “rich” diet, I found I could still be happy enjoying the fat-packed stuff from time to time without carrying around 26 extra pounds.  Fitting in skinny jeans without a muffin top is a perk I still dance about most mornings.  Additionally, I found that I like fruits and vegetables more than I expected.  Most fruits even come in their own little convenient carrying cases, i.e. bananas, oranges, etc.

So today begins a new chapter in the life of my little blog.  Recipe sharing will remain key but maybe we can find ways to balance indulgences with the good stuff.  Maybe we’ll look at ways to stay active that will allow us to indulge more often.  It took me roughly four months to figure out that if I ran several times a week, I could enjoy a few beers every weekend without the guilt.  The last year and two months I worked to find the balance of food, fun, and health.  It’s not always pretty but I promise living a balanced life is worth it.  If I haven’t lost you yet, thank God.  If I have lost you, I’ll find the mac and cheese and lure you back.

Peace, love, and balance-

The Hungry Wife

Spaghetti with meatballs

Sometimes Dinner in our house looks like this

Hot Cheese Steak Sandwich

Sometimes it looks like this.

Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Then there are days it looks a little more like this.  Mhmm, that’s right.

Molten Chocolate Chip with Whip

 

A few nights back I had a pound of ground beef in my fridge and a taste for Italian fare in my heart.  Here’s what dinner looked like on that particular night.

It'sa pasta with a' meatballah. (Read like Luigi)

 

Meatballs are a fun and easy way to make boring ground beef a little more exciting.  It also effectively covers all bases for the hubs: Meat=beef, carb=pasta, and veggie=tomatos in red sauce.  Ok, so I’m stretching it a little with the vegetable but hey, who’s going to stop me?!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 package angel hair pasta, cooked al dente
• 1 20 oz jar of your favorite red sauce
• 1/4 cup of red wine
• 1 small yellow or white onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of breadcrumbs
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• Shredded parmesan, mozzarella, or provolone to top.

Instructions:

1. Start by dicing up your onions into 1/4 inch pieces.  Next, finely dice the cloves of garlic. 
2. Place half the onions and half the garlic into a large mixing bowl.  Add the ground beef, egg, breadcrumbs, and seasoning.  Mix together using your hands.
3. Place a large skillet on the stove over low heat.  Add olive oil and remaining onions and garlic.  Cook for 3-5 minutes or until translucent.
4. While onions and garlic cook down, divide beef mixture into 6 equal pieces and roll into balls using both hands. 
5. Once onions and garlic have cooked down, add meatballs to the skillet and allow to brown for 3 minutes.  Turn meatballs over to allow for even browning.
6. Next, pour red sauce and red wine over meatballs in skillet and increase heat to medium high.  Once sauce begins to boil, lower to a simmer and cover with a lid.  Let cook covered for 20 minutes.
7. Serve meatballs and red sauce over warm pasta.  While still hot, top with cheese.
8. Enjoy!

Peace, love, and piping hot meatballs~

The Hungry Wife

 

Country Style Ribs

That guy I married really, really, really likes meat.  He likes it so much that he thinks he needs to eat it pretty much everyday.  Crazy kid.  Anyhow, I have made it a personal goal to learn new ways to cook up that ole animal carnage.

Walking through the store one day this past weekend, Stuffed Hubs and I came across something called Country Style ribs at the grocery store.  Now, I have heard of short ribs and plain old regular ribs but I ain’t never heard o’ no country-style ribs.  We bought them anyway.

After doing a little reading about common ways to prepare them, I decided to use what I had in the kitchen, throw it in the slow cooker, pray, and hope for the best.  It worked!  Here is what you will need to make these sweet carnivore treats.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs. of country-style ribs (i’m sure any rib cut would be fine)
• 1 cup of bottle barbecue sauce
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3 tablespoons of honey
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar (packed)
• 2 tablespoons of worcestishire sauce
• 3 tablespoons of mild bottled hot sauce
• 5 cloves of garlic
• Seasoning salt
• Black pepper

Instructions:

1. Start by getting that guy you married to pull that heavy crock pot out of the cabinet and onto the counter where you can reach it.
2. Season the ribs on either side with a generous amount of seasoning salt and black pepper.
3. Coat the slow cooker with olive oil and drop in your ribs.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together all other ingredients.  Pour the mixture over the ribs carefully.  Be sure that all the ribs are coated.  You can use tongs to toss them around if necessary.
5. Set the slow cooker on low for 7.5 to 8 hours.
6. Serve em up with corn on the cob, sweet potatoes, or nothing at all.  They’re delicious all on their own!

I can see making this for friends or just for a Sunday lunch.  The fact that it’s put together in a crock put makes it a real breeze and clean up is so quick your husband won’t mind doing the dishes at all.  Right?

Peace, love, and ribs that will stick to your ribs~

The Hungry Wife

Playing hookie…sort of.

I have a midterm exam today.  Let me repeat, I have a midterm exam TODAY.  This is my way of convincing myself to stay focused and study, study, study.  But in the meantime, why not blog about my latest means of procrastination, reading food blogs?!  Also, did I tell you I am now a “Featured Foodie” on RecipeLion???  Check it out.  It’s like, totally awesome.

After my trip to the International Food Bloggers Conference this past August, I was approached by a fellow blogger about the possibility of publishing with RecipeLion.  100 emails and 5 brownies later, I’m a published wanna-be cook!  Miracles still happen!  Do me a favor???  Take a look at my page.  Tell me what you think. Bake me a brownie.  Ok, I’ll settle for your two cents on my page but if you have extra oreo that would be great too.  Yes, I have chocolate on my mind at 7:52 in the morning.  Lay off.

And just because I love you more than marshmallow puff in a jar at midnight, here’s a list of a few dishes that caught my eye this week.

1. chocolate chip toffee bars.  because as you know, chocolate is my weekness.

chocolate chip toffee bars

2. Cajun chicken pasta.  Noodles and spicy chicken. I mean, duh!

Cajun Chicken Pasta

 3. Slow cooker apple butter. An absolute must for fall.

Apple Butter

 4. Texas Chili.  A meal to warm your bones.  I love one pot meals!

texas-chili

5. Biscuits and Sausage Gravy.  A perfect morning demands sausage gravy.

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

And just because I am so willing to put off studying to spend time with you (aka procrastination)…here’s another picture of those rotten little pups I love to cuddle with.

Peace, Love, and Publishing like a big girl~

The Hungry Wife

Cupcake Cones fit for a Princess…or Prince

This past weekend a dear friend’s daughter turned THREE years old!  Princess Kae had a party fit for royalty.  I decided that this birthday party would be the perfect opportunity to try out a recipe idea I came across while browsing Pinterest last week.  These sweet treats are cupcakes baked into ice cream cones and topped off with frosting and sprinkles.  Let me just tell you now, EVERYONE loved them!!  Even the parents of other children at the party were thoroughly impressed.  I earned a pat on the back for this one.  The best part??  Little Miss Kae told me the cupcakes were her favorite.  My heart melted instantly.

This little website shows a basic tutorial for these treats.  As for ingredients for the cupcakes, you could certainly make a batter from scratch if you’re into that sort of thing.  If you are like me and really enjoy boxed cake mix, go for it!  I purchased funfetti cake mix for this batch because it’s fun for the kids and well, because I love funfetti too.  I even bought frosting from the store.  I added sprinkles and a few plastic blingy rings on top of the cones for the girls and dinosaurs for the boys.

Make these for your favorite kiddo, make these for yourself, make these for no reason at all!  They’re delicious and precious.

Peace, love, and princess party cupcake cones~

The Hungry Wife

Tandoori Chicken

I have a collection of recipes that pile up to the height of Mount Rushmore.  Most of them involve chocolate, a variation of chocolates, or chocolate and peanut butter.  Cocoa beans, I love you.  My sweet tooth has driven most of my decisions over the last six months.  My thighs are feeling the jiggly effects of such.  Note to self: invest in fruit more often.

I couldn't stop eating Texas Sheet Cake

This recipe however is NOT about sweets.  Tricked ya didn’t I!?  In fact, this recipe is all about the yummy, juicy, and savory taste of Tandoori chicken.  Recipes that involve few ingredients and little prep time typically rank high on my list.  My taste buds seriously lack in patience.  What can I do?  Even stuffed husband couldn’t say enough good things about this dish, albeit was through a mouthful of chicken.

Please, for me, for all that is holy, make this divine chicken!!  This recipe will definitely be a regular in our house.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 small yellow onion
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 4 bone-in, chicken legs

Recipe adapted from: Everyday Food.

Directions:

1. Throw the first 7 ingredients listed above into a blender.  You may want to roughly chop the onion first so as to prevent the heart attack that may ensue when you hear your blender choke on a way too sturdy onion.  Unless you have a well-constructed blender in which case…I am very jealous of you.  Blend these items together for about 15 seconds until you have a mostly creamy consistency.  It is ok if you see small chunks of onion and garlic. In fact, onion and garlic are a very good things.
2. Place your chicken legs in a large pyrex dish with, if possible, a lid.  Lids disappear in our house.  It’s the gnome, I just know it.  He has my ipod charger and tv remote as well. Jerk.  Season either side of the chicken with salt and pepper.
3. Pour the yogurt marinade over the chicken. Cover it with your lid, or aluminum foil, or whatever for about 5 hours.  More if you have the patience, which I do not, but no longer than 24 hours.
4. You can certainly cook this chicken on a grill.  In fact, it’s probably best that way but I also do not have a grill.  So instead, preheat the oven to 475.  Place your marinated chicken on a baking skeet lined with a rack.  I placed aluminum foil under the rack to catch the drippings and make clean up easier on that guy I married.
5. Place the chicken in the oven for 40 minutes.
6. Flip each leg to allow for even cooking and allow the chicken another 20-25 minutes to complete cooking.
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving with jasmine rice, steamed veggies, or a crisp cool salad.

The possibilities for this recipe are endless.  I used our left overs to make chicken salad.  Absolutely mouth-watering!

Peace, love, and preposterously simple recipes~

The Hungry Wife