Rigatoni Pasta Pie

The finished pie.

 

No, it's not really a pie.

Yes, it was a bit of work arranging all these rigatoni noodles upright like this. Slippery little suckers.

 

 

And then the meat sauce got pushed down through all the holes, the best that I could.

 

 

That plain bit of real estate is for James. I knew he'd like his piece with no cheese. Semi-picky seven year old, but that was an easy fix so I didn't mind.

 

 

I wasn't patient enough to let the "pie" set up for 10 minutes. We dug right in. (P.S. It sliced up very nicely the next day!)

 

The verdict- very kid friendly, nice idea for presentation, but the meat sauce was nothing to write home about. I could use a jarred pasta sauce and save a bit of work. And yeah, I could save a bit of work and just make a lasagna or regular spaghetti if I just want pasta, sauce, and cheese. I just like to try new things!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Rigatoni Pasta Pie.

 

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Oven Fried Chicken

Update 1/2/14

This chicken has become popular in my household once again. This time it is young James that loves it. He is CRAZY about this chicken. He calls it "Crispy Chicken".

I have made a few changes to this recipe. I use panko crumbs instead of whole wheat sometimes, and other times I use a mixture of both. So I guess it is not completely South Beach with that change but it is still healthy and delicious. Oh, and sometimes I use dried parsley instead of the fresh. Slight change that makes it even easier to premix.

I still try and have this mixture prepped in the freezer for easy weekday meals. If I have chicken defrosted, I cut it up, dip it in olive oil, roll in the crumbs and then bake for 20 minutes! Easy enough.

So like I said, James loves this. He loves it so much that he wants "all kids to have this chicken". We had a whole conversation about it before I asked him to repeat everything for a video. So now we're hoping to go viral :)

The recipe link is below, as usual. It still works. I tested it. But like I said, we use panko crumbs mostly for the extra crunch.

Here is James' video. Please share so it goes viral! Haha!

 

 

 

 

2/2010---Oven-fried chicken for dinner. We've enjoyed this chicken for a few years now, since discovering them in our South Beach Diet cookbook. It is an easy meal to prepare if you have the ingredients prepped- I usually have whole wheat breadcrumbs and ground almonds in the freezer, just for this! Also, I've made the breading ahead of time and had that in the freezer too. It is then so easy to dip each piece of chicken in olive oil and some frozen breading, and bake.

It's just so good! The thyme, garlic, and almonds I think really make this great.

Click here for the stolen recipe. I originally found this recipe in my SBD cookbook but it is also online.

 

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Copycat Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits, and Chili

I saw the recipe for these biscuits on Pinterest, but they are taste tested by my favorite blogger (Brown Eyed Baker) so I knew they would be good!

The verdict? Duh! My husband and even my small child loved them! They are quick and easy, and will definitely be made again and again. I just hope they don't replace my beloved cornbread when it's chili making time..

This is my instagram picture, titled: Life is good. Chili in my Chococat bowl, Sweet Child of Vine Fulton beer, and a copycat Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit.

 

Drop biscuits. Good and easy!

 

Click here for the stolen recipe for Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits.

And because I've never really posted my chili recipe, here it goes from memory... It is a South Beach recipe from long ago. I want to say that I got it from a message board, which is why I haven't been able to find it online anywhere now. It might not be the most authentic, true chili but it is darn good and healthy.

Chili

Ingredients:

• 1-2 tsp olive oil
• 2 bell peppers, any color, chopped (I usually do a green and a yellow/red)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 1 lb ground beef (these days we substitute lean ground turkey)
• 15 oz tomato sauce
• 1 can tomatoes with green chiles
• 1 can black beans (I use Bush's reduced sodium), drained and rinsed
• 1 can light or dark kidney beans (I use Bush's reduced sodium), drained and rinsed
• 1 T chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin

1. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the bell peppers, onion, and garlic and cook until softened. Add the ground meat and cook until there is no pink left.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Add dollops of sour cream, shredded cheddar, and any other toppings that you enjoy!

 

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Star Wars geeks

Yes, that is a Tie Fighter and a Death Star PB&J!

 

I get super excited to include something cool in my son's lunchbox but then I don't get a reaction from him. Boo!

 

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Boiled Apple Cider and Baked Cider Donuts

DROOL.

I guess the donut doesn't really matter to me because its covered in cinnamon sugar... but this donut was GOOD. I had made boiled cider a few days before and finally I got around to doing something with it. Boiled cider is basically apple cider reduced down to a syrup. It took a few hours and my house smelled wonderful. It was no problem whatsoever to make!

I guess the boiled cider syrup is also good on pancakes. I really need to find more uses for this stuff. It is delicious.

This is a basic baked donut recipe but for the addition of the boiled cider. I probably could have added a bit more for flavor, but the donut was nice and delicious. Even James had one! Or two. Or three?

I finally discovered how to make the donuts look PERFECT. Turn them upside down! The bottom side is perfectly formed by the donut pan, so then the presentation is nice. I mean, if that sort of thing matters to you. These donuts were inhaled pretty quickly so it didn't matter much besides for this picture!

Baked donuts are the way to go! You don't even miss the fried/sugary ones!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Boiled Cider.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Baked Cider Donuts.

 

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Pumpkin Spice Custards

I've made these delicious little desserts before. I have a recipe printed out from my dear BFF Christa. The recipe is at the bottom of an email that she wrote to me on November 5, 2006. She tells me how excited she is for me and how she can't stop thinking about me! It was the day before I was to have James :) :) :) It's a good memory, thinking about how exciting that time was. He's such a big boy now.

This recipe does not have a link then, so I'm typing it out below. It is a very simple recipe that tastes of crustless pumpkin pie. Mmmmm. I don't mess around when it comes to pumpkin!

Pumpkin Spice Custards, makes 8 individual desserts

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp nutmeg

2 large eggs

1 can (15 oz) pure pumpkin

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 can (12 oz) evaporated fat free milk (or you can use full fat)

Directions: Preheat over to 300 degrees. Mix sugar and all spices in a small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin, vanilla, and sugar-spice mix. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into eight lightly greased 6-oz ramekins or custard cups. Place ramekins on baking sheet. Bake for 55 minutes or until knife inserted in custard halfway between center and edge of ramekin comes out almost clean. Cool on wire rack for 1 hour. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with dollop of light whipped cream, if desired.

Fish Sticks

I forgot to take a picture until there were just two left. James wasn't thrilled with anything today, so I don't know why I dared to dream that he would try something new tonight. Oh well. We thought these were good, and easy! I will make these again, maybe with a bit more seasoning in the crumb mix and a bit more cooking spray across the tops to make them toasty looking.

But good!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Healthy Homemade Fish Sticks.

Mummy Dogs

This was for my son. He didn't end up touching them. Stinker.

This idea is from this website.

Pancakes

It's one of my favorite meals. Breakfast. Any breakfast is good. It's also an easy meal for the nights when it's just me and the little boy :)


I have a product rave- my first one! I guess I should have raved about my pancake pan a long time ago but just recently I bought a Pancake Pen and I love it! It's especially good to fill up the small pancake holes in this pan. I can't believe I lived without this pen for so long :)




I also tried out the pancake pan that my sister sent to my son from Japan. It makes a pancake in the shape of a pig! He loved it! It was also easy to make with my new pen. Woohoo!

Porky got a little toasty but I cut myself some slack since it was my first time using the pan.

These pancake balls will last us maybe the week. My son eats 4-5 at a time!

I've blogged about this pancake recipe before. I think I need to experiment with other recipe though.