Here is the first ever Make it Up Monday success! You can read more about Make it Monday or MUM in my blog posts.  To sum it up, this recipe worked well last week while this week's recipe was...not up to expectations, to put it nicely :)

This recipe was also one of the first that enlisted the help of a surprise taste tester.  In his words,"Thanks for dinner...it was amazing!"  It was nice to have such a great review from someone outside of my family, not that their opinion isn't valuable just a bit biased ;).  

This recipe makes enough to freeze for at least 1-2 more meals depending on your family size.  I have a family of 4 and there was enough for me to freeze for another meal.  This is in addition to what we ate on Monday,  the 2 servings I gave to the taste tester and the 3 servings I put in the fridge for left overs later in the week.  **I did not freeze any gnocchi or scallops**

To Freeze: I put 6 Cups of the meat and vegetable mixture, with plenty of juices to reheat for next time, into a freezer safe plastic container, sealed it up and put it in the freezer.  Simple and easy.  To reheat, I will thaw out in the fridge the day before I plan on it for dinner.  I plan on reheating it again using the Crockpot until warm (I am guessing about 1 hour).  I will update this information if I find it is any different.  

So enjoy!!

Ingredients:
4-5 pound pork tenderloin
32 ounces reduced sodium chicken broth
1 jar Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomato Halves with Italian Herbs
2, 1 pound boxes of Delallo Potato Gnocchi 
16 ounces bay scallops
olive oil
garlic
5 Cups Asparagus
CrockPot-large enough for your roast.  Mine is a 6 quart CrockPot

Directions:
+Place tenderloin into the CrockPot (I put mine in at 11AM, so I turned mine on high.  If you put yours in earlier in the day I would chose low).

+Add the Chicken Broth and Tomato Halves
+Let it do its thing all day.  
+About 10 minutes before serving, start cooking your gnocchi per the directions on the package.  
+About 5-6 minutes before serving, add you asparagus to the CrockPot and start your scallops.  
+heat a sautee pan with olive oil and garlic.
+Place scallops in and sautee for about 4-5 minutes (note that bay scallops cook faster than sea scallops so keep an eye on them) occasionally stir/flip them so they are evenly cooked but not sticking to the bottom of your pan and burning.  

Plating:
+Place gnocchi on the plate
+Top with the pork tomatoes and asparagus.  When I used my laddle to plate it I made sure there was some of the juice so it could soak into the gnocchi.
+add a few scallops on top 


Healthy Eatings, 


Rachel
 
I had scallops while out to eat awhile back and it hit me that I had never cooked them.  I figured that it couldn't be that hard, so I thought I would give it a whirl for dinner one night for my husband and I while the kids were at grandma and grandpa's.  

Because life gets in the way of my blogging, I hope I remembered this recipe right because I have a terrible habit of not writing things down while I "create".

I had to head to "the big city" (aka Grand Rapids) to get fresh scallops so you may want to check your local grocery store to see if they carry scallops before deciding on this for dinner.  For some this may be hard to imagine that they wouldn't carry scallops, but in smaller towns the local grocer may not stock them because they aren't in demand like they are in larger cities.  

A couple of notes about pan-searing scallops.  1-make sure you rinse and dry your scallops before searing them, 2-make sure the pan is good and hot, 3-do not put more than about 1 pound in the pan at a time because they will not sear well if "crowded", 4-if you need to do more than about a pound just wipe down the pan after the first batch, add more butter and put in the second batch of scallops.  I know these notes may make it seem like searing scallops is hard, but they really are not that hard.  


Ingredients:
1 box Delallo Gnocchi
1 pound (approx) fresh sea scallops
4 cups asparagus, chopped
1 jar Delallo Roasted Pepper Bruschetta
4 Tablespoons of Brummel and Brown
2 cloves pressed garlic

Directions:
-In a large sauce pan, bring 4 quarts of water to boil. Place the gnocchi and asparagus into the boiling water and cook for about 4 minutes, or until the gnocchi float to the surface of the water.   Drain water and set aside.
-In a medium pot place 2 Tablespoons of butter and jar of pepper bruschetta and heat on low until warm, then remove from heat
-Heat garlic and 2 Tablespoons of butter in a sautee or frying pan on medium heat 
-Place scallops in the pan to sear for about 1-2 minutes per side or until there is a golden brown "crust" on the seared side.

Plating:
Place Gnocchi and asparagus on a plate
Place Bruschetta on top of the gnocchi and asparagus
Finally top with about 4 Scallops

One last thing, this recipe only makes enough for about 2 or 3 people.

Healthy Eatings, 

Rachel
 
I made these on vacation for some friends because I wanted something that would taste great without a lot of work or extra pressure to get it just right.


Ingredients:

1 bottle of beer-I used Bud Light
4-6 steaks-I used Top Sirloin Filets
McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
6 oz feta cheese
3 portabello mushroom caps, de-gilled, and diced


Early in the day:

Place steaks in a container and pour beer over top until the steaks are covered.  Sprinkle about a table spoon of the seasoning on top.  Place lid or cling wrap over the container and refridgerate for at least 3-5 hours.



Directions:

-Grill the steaks to you preferred temperature.
-Place mushrooms in a small sautee pan with a bit of olive oil or butter.  
-Sautee until soft 
-Reduce heat to low and add the feta cheese until it is soft and melting.

Serve the steaks with the mushrooms and cheese on the side or on top.


I paired this recipe with broiled garlic asparagus (recipe below) and boiled baby yukon potatoes.

Garlic Asparagus:

-1 bunch asparagus placed in a baking dish.
-Spread about a tablespoon of butter over the asparagus
-Use a clove of fresh pressed garlic and spread over top
-Broil about 5-8 minutes, flipping the asparagus every couple of minutes







Healthy Eatings,




Rachel

 
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Ingredients:
10 ounces of cooked spinach (I use a whole bag of fresh spinach chopped and cooked down)
1 bunch of asparagus, chopped up
2 portabella mushroom caps, chopped up
4 eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
8 ounces feta cheese
1/2 to 3/4 cup shredded cheese-whatever kind you have or like (depending on how much cheese you like)
1 pastry shell (store bought or homemade whatever you prefer)


Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Toss spinach into pot of boil water to cook down.
-After the spinach is cooked down, use a strainer to drain the water.  While the spinach is in the strainer use a spatula to squeeze the excess water out of the spinach. If the spinach has too much water, it will make the quiche runny.
-Sautee asparagus and mushrooms in olive oil until just tender
-Put the pastry shell in your pie pan and throw it in the oven for about 3-5 minutes.  I have found that cooking that shell for a few minutes prevents the crust from being soggy in the middle.
-Combine cheeses and eggs in a bowl then fold in the asparagus, mushrooms and spinach.
-Place all the ingredients in the the pie plate and cook for about 40 minutes or until the middle is firm.


I take a little extra of the shredded cheese and sprinkle it on the top for the last 5-10 minutes, just for a little extra :)



Add your own flair!   I like to play with my recipes so they don't become boring or expected...
-If you like things spicy try adding some jalapeños or Cajun spices
-add artichokes
-add chicken or pork sausage
-if you don't like mushrooms or asparagus, substitute the vegetables that your family enjoys!

Other varieties to try:
-green peppers, onions and sausage
-corn, red peppers and black beans
-eggplant, zucchini and summer squash

As always if you have a variety of this recipe that you love...please share it!!




Healthy Eatings, 




Rachel




 
While in Disney over Spring Break I had one of the best grilled veggie sandwiches...so I decided that I needed to make my own version, a little better, a little healthier and simple enough even a husband could make it :)

So, here is my "Better than Disney Grilled Veggie Wrap"!




Ingredients:
Whole wheat tortilla wraps
Eggplant
Zucchini
Summer squash
Asparagus
Red pepper
Portabello mushrooms
Tofu
Low fat cheese (I use a provolone or havarti)
Spinach (do not sautee)




Directions:
1-slice your veggies, I slice the summer squash, zucchini, and eggplant length wise)
2-spray the pan with non stick spray or a light coating of oil (I use soybean oil)
3-heat sautee pan on medium
4-sautee the veggies until they are tender
5-add tofu in for the last minute
6-warm tortilla (I use the microwave fro about 10-15 seconds)
7-place veggies, tofu, spinach and cheese to the tortilla
8-wrap it and enjoy!!!



I hope you enjoy this great wrap as much as we do in our house!!!

Feel free to substitute your own favorite veggies...let me know if you come up with other great combinations!!

Healthy Eatings, 

Rachel