Pan roasted chicken with rutabagas, Brussels sprouts and gravy

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Beebamom

What can I say? It’s Chicken Monday again. In looking through the archives, I am surprised to see I haven’t posted this exact dinner before. Making it here in the rental house in Marco Island is a little trickier than at home. I don’t have the right equipment. The stove here is an inadequate electric one and most of the pans are warped on the bottom so it is harder for John to get a good sear on the chicken. There’s no pressure cooker so it took 40 minutes on high in the microwave to get the rutabagas soft enough to mash. And I don’t have any sherry so the Brussels sprouts came out a bit less nutty. But all in all a fine Chicken Monday dinner.

Chicken, rutabagas, Brussels sprouts and gravy

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Super Bowl Sunday

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Beebamom

I would love to say that I ate perfectly at my sister’s Super Bowl party. But I didn’t. It’s Monday now and I think I can manage today without recriminations. Just got to get back on the diet train. There will be a post tomorrow on my Chicken Monday. But back to the Super Bowl munchies. I am having a little party on Tuesday and I wanted to try out some hors d’oeuvres before I just spring them on people. Actually most of the things I made fit pretty well with my Dining Lite persona.

First up, seared tuna with a sesame seed, ginger crust. It was served with a soy dipping sauce. I also made mushrooms stuffed with goat cheese and topped with thyme bread crumbs. John and I collaborated on a caponata. John also made chicken liver pate. Unfortunately, my sister made pigs in blankets, meatballs, and spinach dip. Here’s a shot of the hors d’oeuvres table before half-time. (Half-time was when the meatballs and pigs in blankets made their appearance.)

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Scallops, butternut squash and broccoli

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Beebamom

Date Night dinner! And what says love better than scallops. John knows that scallops are my favorite seafood – probably my favorite protein. For Mother’s Day one year, Jonathan made a dish of butter braised leeks, mashed potatoes, scallops and asparagus. He recreated a dish that we had had in a restaurant. It was so, so good. I knew for sure that he loved his mom. These are leaner days but scallops can still have a starring role.

John quick seared the scallops. I made some broccoli and we had leftover chipotle/cinammon butternut squash. I made some tartar sauce. Perfect.

Scallops, butternut squash and broccoli

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Lentils, turkey sausage, carrots, onions, mushrooms and escarole

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Beebamom

Oh, lentils, you are about the perfect food. Really high in protein and fiber and low in calories. And so yummy! John made this dish while I was out having lunch with my sister and going to a craft fair. He made our lentil concoction in two steps. After browning the sausage, mushrooms and onions, he cooked the lentils in chicken stock with the mushrooms and onions. He put in some of the sausage and some carrots as well as a can of petite dice tomatoes. The lentils need to be cooked for about 20 minutes to become tender. Since the carrots and sausage give up a lot of their flavor and texture to the lentil broth, he added a second helping of the sausage and carrots when we reheated the stew at dinnertime. At this point we also added the escarole. It seemed unusually delicious this time but I think I say that every time we eat it. This could be translated easily to a vegetarian dish by omitting the turkey sausage and cooking the lentils in vegetable stock or water.

Lentil stew

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Grilled ribeye steak with baked/grilled potatoes and pea pods with broccoli stems

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Beebamom

John and I have been exercising a lot! Sometimes we play tennis twice a day. Yesterday I did a combined three mile run and walk plus played tennis for an hour and a half in the afternoon. We are very hungry! So we decided we could have a little red meat. John trimmed it closely and grilled it. I microwaved two baking potatoes until they were almost done and then he finished them on the grill. I sauteed some pea pods (which I am always careful to string) with some leftover broccoli stems in a little butter. Except for wishing there was more meat, it was a fine dinner.

Grilled ribeye steak with baked/grilled potato and pea pods and broccoli stems

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Grouper with butternut squash and Brussels sprouts

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Beebamom

Wednesday found us back at Paradise Seafood. This time we got grouper. It is the iconic fish of Marco Island. I think every restaurant here must have it on its menu. John sauteed the grouper in a little butter and finished it in the oven. In the meantime I roasted the butternut squash and mashed it up with some salt, pepper, cinnamon (we have no nutmeg) and chipotle powder. Chipotle powder is our new secret ingredient. It gives everything a smoky heat. I made my Incredibly Yummy Brussels Sprouts but had to omit the sherry since we didn’t have any. The came out tasting pretty good anyway. We finished the tartar sauce that I made on Monday. This has been an awesome food week so far.

(On Tuesday we were invited to a paella party – wonderful tapas and fabulous vegetarian paella.)

Grouper with butternut squash and Brussels sprouts

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Seared scallops with steamed new potatoes and green beans

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Beebamom

I love scallops. We made this dish earlier in the week. It makes a regular weekday dinner seem extra special. On Marco Island we get all our seafood from Paradise Seafood. They have yet to disappoint. We will be sorry when we go home and do not have a local fish store. John seared the scallops. He had to use a bit more fat than usual because we don’t have any good non-stick pans at the rental house. I was in charge of steaming the potatoes and the green beans. I also made a tartar sauce with a little bit of light mayonnaise, some non-fat plain yogurt, relish and capers. The dinner was wonderful. Even though scallops are expensive, for less than $20 for everything for the two of us, we had a dinner that would have cost upwards of $60 at a restaurant. (And the wine is much cheaper at home too!)

Seared scallops, new potatoes and green beans

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Whole wheat pasta with enhanced sauce

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Beebamom

I was too excited by the pasta to remember to take a picture. We have just moved into a new rental here in Marco Island and the kitchen set up is a little lacking culinarily. We are missing reasonable pots and pans. So it is hard to cook. Until we buy or borrow enough kitchenware, we will have to be eating simply. Tonight was whole wheat strands with Bertolli tomato and basil sauce that I amped up a bit with tomato paste, red wine, garlic, red pepper flakes and oregano. I also added a little soy sauce to cut the sweetness of the jar sauce and give it a little umami. Well, it was pretty yummy. Since there was no protein involved, I could have a larger portion of spaghetti. Yay. Without a scale I am trying to figure out how much weight I’ve gained while in Florida. I’d say about 5 lbs. I’ve got two weeks left to try to get back to where I was before we left for Florida. Seriously, I really thought that this trip was going to be easy. Certainly much easier than traveling cross country or visiting Italy. I guess I didn’t count on falling into the old patterns of eating with family. Sigh.

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Pan roasted chicken breast, mashed rutabaga, haricots verts and mushroom gravy

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Beebamom

Last Wednesday we had Chicken Monday. Even though I have posted this meal quite a few times, it is remains one of my favorites. It is so cozy. Everything turned out really well and we spent dinner hour umming our way through the dinner.

Pan roasted chicken with mushroom gravy, mashed rutabagas and haricots verts

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Seared scallops with steamed new potatoes and mixed vegetables

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Beebamom

In between eating totally out of control, we occasionally eat something reasonable. We got some awesome scallops from Paradise Seafood and had a dinner of seared scallops, steamed new potatoes and mixed vegetables. It is a relief to eat something on program. The green vegetable is peeled and cut up broccoli stems.

Seared scallops with steamed new potatoes and mixed vegetables

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