Day 12: Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Spinach and artichoke dip has always intimidated me. Mostly, for the longest time I was unaware that I could buy just the artichoke hearts and not have to do all that work getting to them. (Artichokes are very scary when you don't know what you're doing culinarily.) (Apparently, culinarily is a word... well, it is now!) For another thing, most of my adult life was spent avoiding spinach like the plague! To my dissatisfaction, I married a guy who loves it unabashedly! I've been able to avoid it up until this past year. Then, due to us support raising for our Chi Alpha budget and meeting with students in restaurants, he got me to try the dip. I was pleasantly surprised, but I'm still not trying the sweet potatoes or beans!

He asked me to make this dip several times over the years, but like I said, really really intimidated! However, I decided if I could make fancy Disney recipes, I probably should at least try this one. He was overjoyed! He told all his family how awesome I was that I was gonna do this. I was floored by his confidence in my abilities. (See? I'm really not that conceited about my skills!)

I admit, I didn't mess this up! Although, when it first came out of the oven, I had a couple seconds of doubting it tasted anywhere near how it looked! I mean, scroll back up and click that picture to see it all large and stuff! It looked great! Jason was very happy with how it tasted, too! They ate it all! I'm even thinking about making this for the next women's event later this month! (Although, we are supposed to bring a chocolate dish, but maybe I'll just make chocolate-covered bacon, too!)

Ingredients:

1 cup thawed, chopped frozen spinach (I used fresh baby spinach)
1 1/2 cups thawed, chopped artichoke hearts (I found hearts in the produce section already peeled)
6 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup grated Parmesan (I put 1/3 cup more on top)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

1. Boil spinach and artichoke hearts in 1 cup of water until tender and drain.

2. Discard liquid.

3. Heat cream cheese in microwave for 1 minute until hot and soft.

4. Stir in rest of ingredients.

5. Place in medium casserole dish and cover with 1/3 cup more Parmesan.

6. Bake at 350 degrees (F) until the cheese melts. About 5-10 minutes. (I didn't walk away at this point as I was worried I'd burn it!)

7. Serve hot.

Day 11: Ain't No Thing Like a Chicken Wing

So, the Superbowl was kinda boring this year. So were most of the commercials. (I said "most"!) The half-time show had me cringing. (That may be more from me not liking Madonna that much.) There were some commercials that had me literally scratching my head in confusion. Most of the game had the feel of a regular season game instead of, you know, the big deal it should have been.

That is, until the last 5 minutes! I gotta tell you, I'm quite pleased at the outcome. At heart, I am a Manning fan. I followed Peyton's career even through his rough years (like this last one). When Eli started playing professionally, I was excited to see the same things I saw in Peyton when he first started out.

What got me through most of the night was the food. I've tried to be humble about it, but, if I say so myself, I rocked it! I know, I really need to get that humility thing in check! Also, good company!

Anyway, this post is about just the chicken. I made two kinds, pineapple barbecue and mildly spicy. I borrowed bits from a couple different recipes for the spicy ones, but the pineapple barbecue, while I could have made it all myself (it would've tasted like the Polynesian pork chops), I cheated for time constraints and used Sweet Baby Ray's with a slight addition. The spicy ones were a mild buttery spicy, while the pineapple barbecue ones were sweet and tangy. I loved them both equally!

First, the spicy:

Ingredients:

2 pounds wings
3 ounces (about 3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup hot sauce
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Then the pineapple barbecue:

2 pounds wings
1 cup Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce (or follow your favorite recipe)
3 ounces pineapple juice

Directions:

1. Bake wings in a 400 degree (F) oven for 35 to 45 minutes, turning wings over halfway through baking.

2. While wings are baking, heat butter, garlic, hot sauce and kosher salt in a sauce pan over medium heat until smooth and combined. Remove from heat and place in large bowl.

3. In a separate large bowl, mix the barbecue sauce and pineapple juice thoroughly.

4. When wings have finished baking, separate into the two bowls of sauce and toss until coated.

Day 10: Multigrain Bread

The ends totally are faces saying, "Slice us off and eat us!"

I don't know if you know this, but I love bread. However, making it isn't always the easiest thing to do. It's time consuming. It's a test in patience. It's excruciating to smell that baking bread and not be able to eat it!

I especially love multigrain bread. (Simple wheat bread is too simple for my delicate taste buds!) However, every recipe I could find for multigrain involved nothing short of milling my own mix of grains. (Either I need a better search engine, or a small, counter-top mill.)

Then, something miraculous happened! Someone on Pinterest (have you heard of this site?) linked a shortcut to making multigrain. A shortcut that astounded my mind and had me wondering, "Why didn't I think of that??"

I had to make this bread! I set out on a mission to attain all the necessary ingredients. I dreamt about this bread! I did have a little trouble finding the main ingredient, but only had to go to 2 stores to find it. Totally worth it just so I could have this bread in my oven!!

What is this ingredient, you ask? This magic shortcut that alleviates the need for out-dated kitchen appliances?? Well, it was 7-grain Hot Cereal mix! I know, right?!? So. Simple! Genius!

The biggest problem with this recipe is that it involves a LOT of waiting! Every other step is waiting. It is totally worth all the waiting!! As Alton Brown always says: "Your patience WILL be rewarded!"

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup (6 1/4 oz) 7-grain hot cereal mix
2 1/2 cups boiling water
3 cups (15 oz) all-purpose flour (NOT bread flour)
1 1/2 cups (8 1/4 oz) whole wheat flour
1/4 cup honey
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled (if you use salted butter, just decrease
       the additional salt by just a bit.)
2 1/2 tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 Tbsp salt (unless you used salted butter)
3/4 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds (optional, I omitted)
1/2 cup (1 1/2 oz) old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats

Directions:

1. Place cereal mix in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook and pour boiling water over it; let stand, stirring occasionally, until mixture cools to 100 degrees (F) and resembles thick porridge. (About 1 hour.) Whisk flours together in a separate bowl. *

2. Once grain mixture has cooled, add honey, butter, and yeast and mix on low speed until combined. Add flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, and knead until a cohesive mass starts to form (about 1 1/2-2 minutes); cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let dough rest for 20 minutes.

3. Add salt and knead on medium-low speed until dough clears the sides of the bowl (about 3-4 minutes). If it doesn't, add 2-3 Tbsp additional all-purpose flour and knead until it does. Don't add any more than that!) Continue to knead dough for 5 more minutes.

4. Optional! Add the seeds and knead for another 15 seconds.

5. Transfer the dough to lightly floured surface and knead by hand until the dough forms a smooth, round ball.

6. Place dough in large, lightly greased bowl; cover tightly with plastic and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, about 45-60 minutes.

7. Grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and divide in half.

8. Press 1 piece of dough into a 9x6 inch rectangle, with short side facing you. Roll dough toward you into a firm cylinder, keeping the roll taut by tucking it under itself as you go. Turn loaf seam side up and pinch it closed. Repeat with other piece of dough.

9. Spray loaves lightly with water or oil spray. Roll each loaf in oats to coat evenly and place seam side down in prepared pans, pressing gently into corners.

10. Cover loaves loosely with greased plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough nearly doubles in size, about 30-40 minutes. Dough should barely spring back when poked gently with knuckle.

11. Thirty minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees (F).

12. Bake until loaves register 200 degrees (F), about 35-40 minutes.

13. Transfer pans to wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove loaves and return to metal rack to let cool for 2 hours before slicing and serving.

Storage: Bread can be wrapped in double layer of plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. (Like it's gonna last that long!) Or wrapped with an additional layer of foil, bread can be frozen for up to a month.

*For those without a stand mixer, stir wet and dry ingredients together with a rubber spatula until the dough comes together and looks shaggy. Transfer the dough to a clean counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, 15-25 minutes, adding additional flour if necessary. Proceed with recipe as directed.

I barely could wait until the bread was cooled properly to slice into it and enjoy!

Leftover Polynesian pork sandwich on my multigrain! Yum!

Day 9: Chicken Asiago Pasta

So, it all started with a healthy amount of baby spinach! That's healthy, right??

Mmm, healthy!

However, that alone could not be dinner! The spinach was attacked by olive oil, sun-dried tomatoes and garlic!

And, then almost 4 cups of Italian cheese blend creeped up beside, and I just knew it was gonna join in the fun!

So, I cooked up some chicken and some penne pasta and had a big party in my wok!

Mmm! See? I just couldn't leave it with health food! Much more fun and amazing with all that other stuff!

Ingredients:

12 oz dry penne rigate pasta
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 freshly ground black pepper
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, pounded and cut into 2-in strips
2 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, cut into 1/4-in strips
3/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic (or to taste)
1 3/4 cup fresh baby spinach, lightly packed
2 cups grated Asiago cheese (I could only find it in the Sargento Italian blend)
1 3/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Pour 2 quarts of water into a 4 quart pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Once water is boiling, add 1/2 tsp of salt and pasta. Stir to prevent sticking and bring it back to a boil. Lower heat and cook 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. While pasta cooks, mix flour with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Dredge chicken.

3. Heat sauté pan over medium high heat and add 2 Tbsp olive oil. Once hot, carefully place chicken and cook 2-3 minutes or until chicken is golden on bottom. Reduce heat to medium and turn chicken strips over. Cook for another 5 minutes or until done.

4. While chicken is cooking, mix together sun-dried tomatoes, 3/4 cup olive oil, and the garlic. Add the spinach.

5. Once chicken is cooked, place both the chicken and hot pasta into spinach/tomato mix. Add cheeses and toss to mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. The heat from the chicken and pasta will melt the cheeses.

Day 8: Polynesian Pork Chops

The idea for this recipe comes from the Spirit of Aloha Luau at Disney's Polynesian resort. I say "idea" because it was meant for ribs and I had to alter it slightly to not kill ourselves with salt! You see, the original recipe for the ribs called for a full cup of Kosher salt and for some reason that didn't set off warning bells in my head. I thought since it was in the rub that everything would be OK once I baked the pork and put the pineapple sauce on. Boy was I wrong!!

The first time I made them, I ended up having to boil the chops twice to get the sodium content down to a human level; and even then, if you weren't a huge fan of salt, you'd still gag. I mean, I'm pretty sure animals were trying to get in to use these chops as a salt lick! Not bad, but I know if Jason had had his blood pressure checked, he would have been put on meds. And, the poor dear, not wanting to offend me, pretended he didn't notice the salt. He's sitting there, with pursed lips, saying, "No, these are awesome! I don't know what you're talking about with not being able to eat them!"

So, this time, I left out the salt! Only the teaspoon of celery salt made it in. I figured, if anybody really wanted salt, they could ruin their own. Turns out, the chef that gave out that recipe forgot to scale back that one ingredient to normal kitchen size. Makes sense. I did get a nice apology email from him. Disney is awesome like that!

Anywho, everyone enjoyed these! I had to guard the leftover chop with a knife or I wouldn't have lunch tomorrow! Those bits on the side? Those would be roasted garlic potatoes, peppers and onions. Perfect side dish for these ribs! It was either those or rice and after having pasta for lunch, I wanted to change it up a bit.

Ingredients:

Dry rub:

1 tsp celery salt
2 Tbsp mesquite seasoning
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp black pepper

Sauce:

1 cup tomato paste
1 Tbsp corn syrup
1 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 Tbsp honey
1 cup pineapple juice
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp caramel
1/4 tsp liquid smoke

Directions:

1. Rub the pork with the dry rub on both sides and refrigerate for 12 hours.

2. Heat the oven to 325 degrees F.

3. Cook seasoned pork for 1 hour.

4. Cut, while hot, to desired sizes (if you're making ribs, just one bone per piece) and place in baking dish. (Since I was making chops, I just put them on a cookie sheet.)

5. Heat barbecue sauce to a simmer and pour over pork.

6. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place in 200 degree F oven for another 35-40 minutes.

Day 7: Mini Chicken Pot Pies

I know. Pot pies are not everybody's favorite. The 15-year-old never cared for them that much. It was the one food he didn't eat as though we never fed him.

He was always "sick" and then I'd find bits of whatever he scrounged from the pantry when I wasn't looking. Candy wrappers in the couch or potato chip bags or whatever those rice cake thingies were! (Seriously, he found rice cake monstrosities more appetizing than pot pies!)

To be fair, serving the processed frozen things that they called pies is something I'm not really proud of. Tasteless and with enough sodium to send anybody's blood pressure sky high! Then I found the recipe for these quick yummy things:

This pic does NOT do justice!

They look all wonky, but that doesn't mean they taste bad, just that I need lessons in staging.

Who knew a simple can of flaky biscuits and leftover chicken from a few nights ago could turn into this? Not saying it's healthy (just better than the processed things.)

First, I gathered the ingredients:

4 Tbsp chopped onion
2 tsp olive oil
Garlic salt and pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp white cooking wine (optional, I passed since I didn't have any)
2 Tbsp milk or cooking creme (optional, but I used cooking creme since I had)
     (this makes the filling smoother)
2 small cans of mixed vegetables, drained with liquid reserved (I guess a large     can would work)
1 peeled and seeded small tomato, chopped (As you can see in the pic, my tomato was large, but I only used the equivalent of a small one.)
2 cooked chicken breasts, cubed
1 egg

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in sauce pan (I used my wok since I try to use less dishes), sauté onion until soft. Add spices and optional wine creme/milk.

2. Add remaining ingredients and mix. If very dry, add some of the vegetable liquid.

3. Separate refrigerated flaked biscuits. (The kind I used came 8 to the can.) Divide each biscuit into 4 layers.

4. Coat large muffin tin with cooking spray. Line with 1-2 biscuit layers. (I used a regular size tin which meant I had smaller space to cover with the layers.)

5. Spoon in the filling mixture and top with the remaining 2 biscuit layers. Crimp edges to seal, but pierce the tops to vent.

6. Brush on egg white wash.

7. Cook in preheated 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

These had way more taste than the store bought frozen kind, and a ton less sodium! 

Day 6: Lemon Garlic Shrimp

I swear, one day, the pics will improve. I mean, they kinda have to, don't ya think?

Anywho! This recipe came from a friend who got it from a chef at Spoodles in Disney's Hollywood Studios. (I can't help but love the recipes from Disney!)

I've tried my hand at garlic shrimp in the past, even Red Lobster's, but this one turned out the best. Not too lemony or garlicy; just the right amount balanced in a succulent shrimp. Highly recommend!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, divided
36 large shrimp, deveined, butterflied
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped, divided
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/8 tsp freshly cracked pepper
1/2 bunch parsley, roughly chopped

Directions:

1. Melt 1/2 the butter in sauté pan. Add 1/2 the garlic and sauté until just golden.

2. Add shrimp and toss to coat. Cook about 1 to 2 minutes each side until shrimp is almost done - pink, firm and slightly opaque.

3. Add lemon juice and remaining garlic and butter, but do not allow it to boil.

4. Season with the salt, pepper and parsley. Serve.

Very simple. Very delicious and worth the small effort!