Michael Symon's Shrimp and Chorizo

So this was one of Aaron's favorite meals ever :), and like all Michael Symon's 5 in 5 recipes, this was easy and delicious. Aaron gave this a perfect 10, Noah gave it a 9, and Owen and I gave it an 8, I thought it was a tiny bit too orangey. For five servings, each serving was 284 calories, and the spicy sausage with the shrimp was so great. Here's what to do:

1 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined

1/2 lb chorizo

4 T chopped fresh oregano leaves

1 t cumin

14.5 oz diced tomatoes

salt and pepper

Grated zest and juice of 2 oranges

Cook the chorizo until browned, add the shrimp, then cook for one minute. Add in the tomatoes, oregano, cumin, and orange juice and zest. Season to taste and serve.

We had this with rice pilaf, and it was a great meal.

Michael Symon's Orange Chicken with Snow Peas

This was really tasty, we all gave this a 9, the chicken was super delicious.  This was from Michael Symon's 5 in 5 cookbook, and my biggest complaint was that it took waaay longer than 5 minutes, because cutting up my peas took a while :).  Unlike my complaint about the oatmeal I featured recently, this was not too orangey.  We really liked it.  Each serving was 343, and here's what I did:

1/4 c flour
salt and pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped into bite size pieces
2 T olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 T sesame seeds
grated zest and juice of 2 oranges
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 lb snow peas, thinly sliced
2 T unsalted butter

Season the flour with salt and pepper in a bowl, and season the chicken on all sides with salt and pepper.  Dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess.
Heat the oil in a large pan, and cook the chicken, stirring occasionally, until well browned.  Add the garlic and sesame seeds, and some salt, and cook for about 30 seconds.
Add 1/2 c water to deglaze the pan, then simmer until the liquid has reduced by half.  Add the orange zest and juice and red pepper flakes, then cook for another minute.  Add the peas, cover the pot, and cook until slightly tender, about one more minute.
Add the butter to the pan, taste and adjust the seasoning, then serve.

Citrus Ricotta Pancakes

This was voted the boys', especially Noah's, favorite pancakes.  He liked how soft they were, and they both loved the orange taste.  These are really easy, and a great way to use up left over ricotta from other recipes.  I found this recipe on tasty kitchen, and I followed it exactly.  Each pancake was 102 calories, leaving out the butter for cooking the pancakes.  Anyway, easy and delicious!  Aaron and I gave them an 8, Owen a 9, and Noah a perfect 10.

Chinese Take-Out's Orange Chicken

This was a great recipe!  While I don't love frying, this was really good, and worth the deep fryer time :).  Even with the marinating and the deep frying, this didn't take more than about 30 minutes, so a quick dinner that is also delicious.  Each serving, and we split it into 6, was 542, so high in calories, but since that is including a cup of oil, I don't know how accurate my calculations are.  We all gave this a 9, so winner!  Here's what I did

1 T soy sauce
1 T mirin
2 egg whites

1 lb chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch cubes

1/3 c orange juice
1/4 c chicken stock
1 T cider vinegar
1 1/2 T soy sauce
1 t sesame chili oil
2 T light brown sugar
1 t grated fresh orange peel

Frying oil

1 t oil
1 garlic clove
1 t cornstarch dissolved in 1 T water

1 c cornstarch

Marinate the chicken:  Combine the soy sauce, mirin, and egg whites.  Add the chicken, and stir gently to coat.  Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Prepare the sauce:  Combine the orange juice, chicken stock, cider vinegar, soy sauce, sesame chili oil, brown sugar, and orange zest.  Set aside.

Heat the 1 t oil in a pan and saute the garlic until fragrant, about 1 minutes.  Add the reserved sauce and bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow the sauce to simmer until it is reduced by 3/4, about 15 minutes.  Stir in the slurry and let the sauce thicken.  Season with salt to taste.

Spread the 1 c of cornstarch on a plate, and cover each chicken chunk with the corn starch, shaking off the excess.  Fry until lightly golden brown, then remove the chicken to a paper towel lined plate.  Add the chicken to the orange sauce and mix until well coated.

We served ours with rice, and we loved it :)

Pioneer Woman's Orange Vanilla Fruit Salad

Isn't that a pretty sight?  I love fresh fruit, and this was a great fruit salad.  Pick your fruit, and make this simple syrup from the Pioneer Woman.  Each serving, and we made six, was 154 calories with the fruit I chose.  Aaron and I gave this a 9, and Owen and Noah gave it a perfect 10, a great way to get Owen to eat fruit besides apples :).

1/2 c sugar
Juice and zest of 1/2 an orange
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 c water

Add all the ingredients to a pot, and bring to a boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes until thick.  Chill the syrup, then pour over fruit when ready to serve the salad.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy ;).

Cranberry Orange Spice Muffins

Yay!  Baby is coming today!  We had these very healthy muffins the other day, and I made them just a little less healthy, because I don't like any sugar substitutes.

These were kind of a disappointment, because the cloves were overpowering, but I liked the texture and the taste mostly.  I also liked how healthy they were.  Noah and I gave them a 7, Owen gave them a 5, and Aaron gave them a 6.  You can find the original recipe here, but here is how I made them, changing the spice amounts, and they were still too clovey for us.  I don't know how anyone could eat them the way the original recipe suggested.  We made 12 muffins, and the calories for 1 muffin were 154 the way I made them.

1 c whole wheat flour
1 c oats
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves (next time I will lower this to 1/8 t probably)
1/2 t nutmeg (I'll also lower this amount and maybe add some vanilla for flavor)
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
2/3 c skim milk
1/2 c sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c Craisins
1 medium orange, zested

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a muffin tin and set aside.  Combine flour, oats, spices, salt and baking powder.  Set aside.
Combine milk, sugar, egg and applesauce.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones, then stir until just moistened.  Gently stir in cranberries and orange zest.  Pour into muffin tins, and bake for about 10-12 minutes.  (I cooked mine longer, about 14 minutes). 

Ricotta Cinnamon and Sugar Danish

We had a yummy Danish called Ricotta Cinnamon and Sugar Danish, recipe found here, and we really enjoyed it.  The boys and I cut the recipe in half, since we were the only ones eating it, but we ended up eating all of it.  Owen and I gave it a 9, and Noah gave it a perfect 10.  I didn't love the orange, I think when I make it again I will try a different flavor with it, but the boys thought it was wonderful :)  We had 6 servings and the calories per serving were 171.

2 T Ground Cinnamon
2 T White Granulated Sugar
Dash of Salt
1 1/2 t  Fresh Orange Zest
2 1/2 T Ricotta
1/2 box Frozen Puff Pastry, 14-17 Ounce Box
1 whole Large Egg, Beaten (I obviously didn't use all the egg, it was too much, but I still brushed the top with the egg)
3/4 c Confectioners Sugar
1 T Brewed Coffee, Room Temperature (or milk if you don't use coffee)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. In a medium bowl, place cinnamon, sugar, salt and orange zest; mix until combined. Add the ricotta and using an electric mixer, mix until mixture is smooth. Alternatively, in case you don’t own a mixer, you can use a fork to combine everything together. It might take a little longer but will definitely work. Set aside.
3. Carefully unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry and roll it out slightly with a floured rolling pin until it’s about 1/8-inch in thickness. Since mine was a circle, I cut it into an 11″ x 8″ rectangle.
4. Slice 1-inch strips diagonally down both sides of the puff pastry, leaving the center uncut. Try to cut the same amount of strips on both sides. I had about 8 strips per side.
5. Add the ricotta filling, spreading it evenly down the center of the puff pastry. Fold in the bottom and top flaps. Braid the puff pastry, by folding the strips over the filing, alternating sides, until you’ve worked your way down the puff pastry. Using your knife, trim off any leftover strips or extra dough.
6. Transfer the danish to a parchment lined baking sheet, and brush the top with egg wash. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Then transfer baking sheet to the preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until puffed up and golden brown.
7. While baking, mix confectioners’ sugar with the coffee in a small bowl. When the danish comes out of the oven, drizzle the top with the icing and serve warm. 

Braised Chicken (Rabbit) Thighs with Olives and Orange

We had a very successful dish last week.  This one was incredibly successful, at least for three of us.  It's called Braised Rabbit Thighs with Olives and Orange.  We used chicken thighs, and they worked great.  Aaron and Owen gave this a perfect 10, I gave it a 9, and Noah was mad so he gave it a 2.  I wouldn't include his vote, so expect this to be great.  The calories for 6 servings are 285/serving, and then we included rice, so that's an extra 150 calories, approximately.  I found this recipe in Michael Symon's Live To Cook cookbook, and we're nearing the end of our Michael Symon recipes now :)  Here's the great recipe with the amounts I used.

4 bone-in chicken thighs
Kosher salt and black pepper
2 T ground coriander
1/2 c flour (I used less than this)
1/4 c olive oil
1 medium onion, halved and sliced
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 fresno chile, seeded and sliced
1 c dry white wine (I used chicken broth)
1 c fresh orange juice
3 c chicken stock
12 black olives
1/2 c chopped parsley leaves
2 T honey
1 c toasted sliced almonds

Preheat the oven to 225 (I didn't do this, I totally spaced it :))
Place a dutch oven over medium heat.  Season the chicken thighs with salt, pepper and coriander, then dredge in flour and shake off the excess.  Add the oil to the dutch oven.  Brown the chicken thighs for about 2 minutes per side.  Remove the thighs.  Add the onion, garlic, chile, almonds, and a pinch of salt to the pan, and sauté until the veggies and almonds begin to brown, 4-5 minutes.  Add the wine, orange juice, and sotck, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.  Return the thighs to the pan and bring the liquid to a simmer.  Cover the pan, transfer to the oven (I didn't do this, I just left this on the stove on low for 3 hours), and braise for 3 hours, or until the meat is very tender.  Remove the thighs from the pot.  (I shredded the chicken and removed the bones.)  Over medium heat, return the sauce to a simmer and whisk in the olives, parsley, and honey.  Return the thighs to the pot to reheat and then serve.

These are not that much work, although they do need to cook a long time.  It's so worth it, and we really liked it with the rice, since I made more sauce then I needed to.

Cranberry Orange Cake Donuts

So today we had a spectacular flop :(  I made donuts for the boys for breakfast, and this is what they ended up looking like:

These were supposed to be Cranberry Orange Cake Donuts, and they are moist and super flavorful, really great flavor, I just could not get them to stay together.  I tried taking them out when warm, when that didn't work with the first one, I tried taking them out when totally cool.  Here are the results.  Six donuts made into crumbs.  I give this recipe a 4, because of the great flavor and the low calorie count, only 135 calories/donut, but the falling apart obviously doesn't work.  I did halve the recipe, and maybe that was the problem, who knows.  We won't be making this one again.  Tomorrow we're trying chili rice.

Mediterranean Chicken and Pioneer Woman's Marmalade Muffins

Here is the link to the recipe we had tonight.  I really like everything we've tried from this lady, and this was another one we enjoyed.  We gave it a 7, and it was a quick, easy pretty healthy dinner, only 435 calories for rice and chicken and sauce.  The only change I made was to cut the oil in half, and use 5 chicken tenders, so we cut it into 5 portions.   Notice the green beans?  They are from our garden :)

We had these mini muffins for breakfast this morning, and they were delicious! We got the recipe from the Pioneer Woman's first cookbook, they are called marmalade muffins, and although they don't have any marmalade in them (thankfully), they were easy and great tasting. I cut the recipe in half and made 20 mini muffins out of it, and the calorie count for each muffin was 114/muffin. We gave it on average a 9, for the ease of making them and how delicious they are. Tomorrow we're having a chicken dish from the Pioneer Woman and a broccoli recipe from Our Best Bites.