Furniture and Veggies

Although I didn't watch as many chick flicks as planned this past weekend (okay, I actually didn't watch any) while hubby was away, I did enjoy my quiet nesting time.  I organized files, played with produce and worked on a furniture project.  I also slept a lot and devoted all of my movie-watching time to food related documentaries. All I have to say about that is that I'm really glad I was eating a completely vegan meal while I watched Food, Inc.  But, anyway; about the furniture and veggies...

Shortly after we got married, hubby and I worked on the inside of this wonderfully whimsical antique china cabinet that used to be his grandmother's.  The inside used to be that 1970's pale mustard-ish yellow.  We re-painted it (including the under-sides of the shelves) and the stemware racks (which we installed - aren't you impressed?!) a warm cranberry red to match the red panes of glass in the doors and we added mug hooks to the bottom of one of the shelves.

China Cabinet

 
That was our first furniture project, and since then, we've been relishing in learning about, acquiring and revitalizing antiques.  Lucky for us, hubby's dad owns enough antiques - many of them just piled up in his attic! - to open several shops, so we can do our own "shopping" whenever we want.  We recently brought home a "lawyers shelf," several layers of which supposedly belonged to this guy, an ancestor of hubby.  This is what I worked on this past weekend.

The Lawyer's Shelf (Before) - dusty and dry

When we brought the shelves home (each layer is separate and stackable), they were covered in dust and the wood was very dried out.  We still need to replace one missing pane of glass and some hardware, but with the help of some trusty tools, more than a few rags and some good ol' elbow grease, we now have a gorgeous piece of furniture in our living room ready to be filled with well-loved books and treasured objects.

Trusty Tools

 

 

 

 

After

After

After

 

After

 

 

Aside from working on furniture, I also played around in the kitchen and experimented with making Kale chips.  They are super easy to make and very tasty, but my one piece of advice: Don't over-salt them. 

Kale Chips

one head of Kale
olive oil
salt and pepper OR any variety of seasoning salt

Wash and thoroughly dry Kale.  Tear leafy parts into bite-sized pieces.  Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil.  Using hands, toss Kale to coat leaves evenly.  Sprinkle (sparingly) with seasoning salt.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Enjoy immediately!

Parmesan Chicken with Veggie “Pasta” and (Quick) Homemade Marinara Sauce

My hubby is out of town for the weekend, deep in the no-cell-phone-service reaches of the Alabama woods, for a good friend's bachelor party.  I'll miss him being away, but I'm thrilled for him to have a break from the day-to-day rat race.  And I'd be lying if I didn't say that I'm a little bit excited about the quiet weekend I'll be having at home by myself.  I have one social outing planned for tonight (Miranda Lambert concert at Billy Bob's!!!!!  Can you tell I'm excited?!), then I'm going to hole myself up and nest, nest, nest. 

To prepare for my weekend of nesting, I went to Central Market (non-Texans, I'm truly sorry that you don't have Central Market in your lives) this morning and spent about $90 on produce.  I'm pretty sure the person bagging my groceries was thinking that I am going to start sprouting roots and turn into a vegetable if I actually end up eating everything I bought.  Good thing I didn't spend a buck more on produce because there is zero space left in this refrigerator:

Don't judge the two (large) cartons of Half and Half.

Also, I bought chicken, ground turkey, half and half, dark chocolate, and current issues of Bon Appetit and Southern Living while I was there.  Just, you know, for variety.

I have a whole slew of mostly just veggie and fruit recipes that I plan on experimenting with this weekend, sort of as a detox/reset/nutrient boost for myself and to find new ways to eat super good-for-me things.  I also plan on tackling some major organizational projects around our home and working on cleaning, waxing and buffing some of our antique furniture (including an incredible lawyer's bookshelf that's been in hubby's family for years and years - pics to come throughout the restoration project!).  And, I may watch a ridiculous amount of chick flicks while all this is happening.

Before I disappear into my nest for the next couple of days, though, I wanted to share with you one of my most favorite healthy, quick and hearty recipes.  This is one that is pretty much just in my head, so I finally took the time on Wednesday evening to measure out the ingredients and write down my process.  Then I scarfed the food down so fast that no pictures were taken.  (Hence the photograph of the inside of my 'fridge to keep this from being a photo-less post...)  Oops.

Parmesan Chicken with Veggie “Pasta” and (Quick) Homemade Marinara Sauce

Hands-On: About 30 Minutes
Total Time: About 30 Minutes
Serves: 2

For the chicken:
2 eggs
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
Approx. 1/2 Cup finely shredded or grated Parmesan (plus more for garnish, if desired)
1/3 cup unseasoned whole grain or whole wheat bread crumbs
Fine grain sea salt
ground black pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
olive oil

For the veggie “pasta”:
2 each “normal” sized yellow squash and zucchini squash
olive oil

For the sauce:
1 – 15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 – 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1 small can tomato paste
thyme (fresh, if you have it)
dried parsley
dried oregano
dried basil
dried rosemary
2 dried bay leaves
½ tablespoon of sugar (don't skip this - sugar makes all the difference separating a fantastic marinara sauce from a blah one)
2-3 minced cloves of garlic

*note – You will need a julienne peeler for this recipe.  They aren’t expensive, and it will change your life.  I promise.

Prep your cooking space by having all of your ingredients out and ready.  This is a quick recipe, but everything happens at once (thus, making it quick…), so help yourself out by having everything in reach. 

Prep the chicken breasts by laying them out on a piece of plastic wrap on a cutting board and cover them with another piece of plastic wrap.  Using a heavy pan, a rolling pin or a meat pounder, pound out the chicken. 

Prep the pasta by using the julienne peeler to make “strands” of zucchini and squash from the fleshy part of the veggies.

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs and mustard together.  In another medium bowl, mix bread crumbs, Parmesan, salt and pepper.

On the stove-top, heat two medium to large skillets/frying pans to medium heat and pour about 1 ½ tablespoons of olive oil in each.  While the pans are heating, place a small sauce pan on the stove and empty the cans of tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and tomato paste into it.  Add the sugar, garlic and herbs to the tomatoey mixture in amounts that are pleasing to your taste.  Stir and heat this sauce pan to medium.  (Continue stirring occasionally and keep an eye on the sauce pan while you’re working on the rest of the recipe and turn it down to simmer once it starts bubbling).

Place the veggie “pasta” in one of the skillets/frying pans and sauté, stirring occasionally, just like you would with any veggie.  Cook to your desired doneness.

While veggies are cooking, one at a time, dip the chicken breasts into the egg and mustard mixture, letting any excess drip off and dredge well in the bread crumb mixture.  Place chicken breasts in the other skillet/frying pan.  Cook 3-5 minutes on each side, or until chicken is cooked throughout. 

To serve, place a bed of “pasta” on each plate, top with a chicken breast, ladle a generous portion of marinara sauce on top of that and sprinkle with more Parmesan, if desired. 

Enjoy!

Happy weekend, everyone. :)

What I've Been Loving Lately

The sign in my bathroom that says, "It's the little things in life that make living so grand."

Sunshine in the dining room.

 

This book.

A lazy and cozy Valentine's Day with my Valentine.

A new energy and positive movement in my job search.  And feeling so thankful for friends and colleagues that go out of their way to help me and vouch for me.  And embracing being able to stay up late, sleep in and work out in the middle of the day while I still can.

Getting excited for friends (real life and blog world "friends") that are pregnant.

 

Feelings of deep, deep connection - in the simplest, most mundane parts of life - so strong that they bring tears to my eyes.  I feel so blessed and lucky for the huge love in my life.

       Method’s Hardwood Floor Cleaner.  I’m a sucker for anything almond scented.  Plus?  This stuff makes my wood floors so pretty and shiny!

The Tracy Anderson Method.  I've been doing her mat workouts and dance cardio for a while now, but I started her Metamorphosis program yesterday (the fitness part; not the full food program).  Man, oh man, am I sore this morning!!!

Greens and Sausage Soup with Cornmeal Dumplings

Hi, friends!  I'm still on a huge greens kick, so I bring you another recipe loaded with chard and kale.  These veggies are loaded with nutritional benefits (here's some info on kale), but they aren't the easiest foods to enjoy because of their tough texture.  Although I've continually read that you lose some of the nutritional value when you boil (vs. steaming or stir-frying) greens such as Kale, I just don't enjoy the texture of tough greens.  At all.  And it's really important to me to enjoy what I'm eating.

While this soup is so, so wonderful (perfect for a chilly winter evening), I hesitated to post it because it sounds a bit similar to the Greens and White Bean Stew that I posted just last week.  But I assure you, this soup is quite different from the last one:

• This one has no beans
• This one has meat
• There are dumplings in this one (but with NO white flour!)
• This one is SPICY!
• In terms of cooking techniques, this one is way easier (no poached eggs...)

I started with this recipe from the January 2011 issue of Bon Appetit, an issue which - much to my delight - had an entire section devoted to cooking with greens.  As usual, I changed the recipe as I went along.  My ingredient and process changes are included in the recipe below.  If you're interested in making parts of this soup ahead of time, check out the process in the Bon Appetit version.

For the sausage, I used a chicken and turkey andouille sausage with no fillers or other junk in it from Whole Foods.  I don't think the hubby even realized it wasn't "real" sausage.

I know that a "bunch" of chard or kale will vary from store to store, but I think the total weight of the two bunches I used was about 1 to 1.5 pounds.

Greens and Sausage Soup with Cornmeal Dumplings

prep time: approx. 1 hour

total time (includes cooling): approx. 2.5 hours

servings: 6

dumplings

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped green onions

soup

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 3/4 + cups chopped onion
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 pound andouille sausages, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes in tomato juice
approx. 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

large pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional and to taste)
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 bunch green chard (approx. 6 "stalks")

1 bunch kale
(Wash greens and chop/tear into large bite-sized pieces.  Remember, they'll cook down quite a bit.)

DUMPLINGS: 

Whisk together first 5 ingredients.  Stir in milk and butter, then green onions.  It's a very thick texture - don't worry.  Let stand 1 to 2 hours.  Place a piece of plastic wrap on a baking sheet.  Using wet hands, shape dumpling mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, into dumplings (should make 18 to 26).  Place on baking sheet. Place baking sheet in refrigerator until you are ready to add the dumplings to the soup.  

SOUP:  

Heat oil in dutch oven or other large soup pot over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, bay leaves and thyme.  Saute for about 10 minutes, until onion becomes tender and slightly translucent.  Add sausage and saute for about 5 minutes.  Add broth, tomatoes with juice, Tabasco sauce, cayenne, and allspice.  Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.  

Add greens to simmering soup and cook uncovered for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Drop in dumplings, cover pot, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes (dumplings should be tender and cooked through).  Season soup with salt and pepper, and ladle soup and dumplings into bowls to serve.

Enjoy!