Grill 225 & Pregnancy Update/VLOG- Week 39

Hey All! I apologize for the lack of exciting recipes lately. As time ticks down to the peanuts arrival, there has been a lot of running around, easy meals at home, and even easier meals out .

How has your weekend been so far? Friday night, Josh and I had an easy dinner at home and passed out early- it was wonderful. Saturday involved Body Step in the morning, catching up on work work in the afternoon, and going to Grill 225 to celebrate Josh’s Dad’s birthday at night. 

Since it was a birthday celebration, they brought out champagne for the non-preggers people to enjoy:

Josh’s parents:

Me & Josh:

We are huge fans of Grill 225- it’s the perfect special occasion spot! As I’ve posted before, my favorite thing is their amazing bread basket- especially their tomato focaccia:

 

For dinner, I had their side pasta with whole roasted garlic.

Josh’s parents and Josh had steak. We also had hash browns and Brussels sprouts.  For dessert, Josh’s Dad ordered the AMAZING peach cobbler (which we all split and couldn’t finish!!). They even made the plate extra pretty for his birthday:

Pregnancy Update/VLOG- Week 39:

Thank you all for your questions for Josh! He had a crazy/busy work week, but will be providing answers soon!

Excuse my sweaty picture:

And VLOG:

Funny story: Josh recently traded in his hot two seater car for a more reasonable (but still hot) four door car. On Friday, we received an awesome gift from some of the people that have worked for Josh:

A second base for our car seat ! I think Josh will look like an awesome Mr. Mom with the car seat in the back of his new car. Thank you guys!!

As a fun side note, look what we pulled out of our garden this week!!

MELON! I am super excited.

What is your favorite summer fruit?

Pineapple Jalapeno Teriyaki Turkey Burgers

How are you? Happy National Running Day!! Although I can’t run, run (due to my HR & the baby), I plan to get a little jog in before Body Pump this morning! Are you celebrating?

I have been busy around the kitchen cooking up more “manly” meals. First up, I used the leftover pulled pork from last week to make the men pulled pork quesadillas.

   

I served them with a veggie stir fry. I threw a chopped jalapeno & squash (from our garden) in a large skillet with olive oil and chopped asparagus. I also sprinkled the veggies with a little chili powder.

On Memorial Day, Josh was craving burgers. Instead of going with traditional beef burgers, I decided to use ground turkey. I wanted to make the burgers taste a little Hawaiian and Josh and I came up with the following:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb ground turkey
• 1/3 cup pineapple, diced
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• 2-3 tablespoons low sodium teriyaki sauce
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs

Directions:

Pre-heat grill or grill pan to medium high.

Mix together (by hand) all ingredients.

 

Divide mixture into two patties. Spray patties with non-stick spray or cook on non-stick aluminum foil. Cook for ~5- 6 minutes on both sides or until cooked through.

The men had their burgers topped with pepper jack cheese and grilled pineapple slices(excuse the messy picture, the boys were in a hurry to eat ;)):

We also grilled up corn! So good :)

Don’t forget to enter my cookbook giveaway!

M: Toasted Almond Coconut Granola

So I've been a little MIA the last week or so...I won't lie...I don't feel TOO bad about it...Why? Because we're giving our kitchen a pretty big facelift =) So, when you have wet paint and empty cabinets, you definitely don't want to be splattering all over the place. Seeing as how there has been no cooking, this post won't be very long. Just a little of this and a little of that.

There has been lots of takeout...A little of this:

And a little of my favorite soup from Five Loaves (tomato tarragon with crabmeat - so yum):

And lots of other things too - non-homemade things. So, given that I cannot use my kitchen, I am beginning to go through cooking/baking withdrawals. But, again, I'm ok with it. Hey, it's nice to take a break every now and then...especially if it's forced on you =)

However, there is one little recipe I wanted to share because this stuff is fantastic. I mean, it's the best granola I've made to date. It has stayed super crunchy and made enough for breakfast parfaits for the entire week, which was great for us since we haven't been able to cook breakfasts! It's Joy the Baker's Toasted Almond Granola with just a couple of modifications.

My favorite part of this granola? I believe it may be the addition of the coconut - but I love the large amount of almonds and the cinnamon hints and the fact that it maintains its crunchiness no matter what you do with it!

My only changes? I nixed the 1/4 cup of oil, added 1/4 cup applesauce, and added about 3/4 cup of dried cranberries just after baking because I just cannot have granola without some sort of dried fruit!

The outcome:

Seriously, try this stuff...It is sooo tasty! Just go to miss Joy's blog here!

Enjoy! Happy Tuesday!

M: Roasted Asparagus with Browned Butter and Lemon Sauce

Happy Saturday!! Hope everyone is having a great weekend!! Mine has been pretty good so far. Marley says his is pretty good too:

So getting right to it…I don’t think it’s any secret that I love me some Meyer lemons. Just take a gander at the Meyer Lemon Chicken Piccata or the Coconut and Meyer Lemon Pound Cake. Why not use them for a yummy side dish, right?

This roasted asparagus is seriously good – although you gotta like lemon to like this.

I loved the tartness the lemon juice added along with the fresh taste of the thyme and the sweetness of the browned butter just brought it all together in harmony! And it’s incredibly easy!

Roasted Asparagus with Browned Butter and Meyer Lemon Sauce

from Cooking Light

1 lb asparagus spears, trimmed

1 TB olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 TB butter

2 TB fresh Meyer lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

1 tsp Meyer lemon rind, grated

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Place asparagus in a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top.

Roast in oven for approximately 8 minutes.

Melt butter in a small skillet at medium heat until it turns light brown, shaking the pan occasionally (about 3 minutes – you can also tell when the butter gets very aromatic).

Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice. Drizzle butter mixture over the roasted asparagus. Toss. Sprinkle with fresh thyme and lemon zest.

I served alongside some sweet teriyaki marinated grilled chicken (thanks to the grilling skills of the hubs) and brown rice. Yum!

Enjoy!

M: Pound Cake Two Ways

So I made pound cake…I made 2 pound cakes actually. I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to make, I found these two recipes and they both sounded so fantastic. So instead of making a painstakingly hard decision I decided to indulge myself =)

It’s spring-like weather here in Charleston, which means spring is coming, which means I want something tropically-tasting. So, naturally a coconut lemon pound cake and a key lime pound cake just sounded like perfection.

Seriously…I can’t describe how good these pound cakes are. I actually used Meyer lemons in the coconut lemon cake, which made it a little sweeter than a normal lemon would. Both turned out wonderfully – the flavors weren’t overwhelming to the pound cake at all.

Ok, I gotta get to this, for real…The steps are for the coconut lemon cake, but the key lime is essentially the same just with different fruit additions!

Coconut Lemon Pound Cake

from Southern Living

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/3 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups AP flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tsp lemon zest (I used Meyer lemons)

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, divided

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat butter at medium speed in an electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended each time. Stir in lemon zest and 1/2 cup coconut.

Pour into a greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool in pan for about 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Spoon lemon glaze over top and sprinkle with remaining coconut.

Lemon Glaze

2 cups confectioners sugar

2-3 TB milk

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Add additional small amounts of milk to icing for desired consistency. (I went with right at 3 TB)

For the Key Lime Pound cake, just go here. The only change I made was cutting the recipe in half and creating another loaf instead of using a tube pan like the recipe calls for.

If you wanted to make the coconut lemon pound cake into a larger cake, just double the recipe and use a tube pan instead of a loaf pan.

Enjoy!

P.S. Don’t forget about Itzy’s baked goods giveaway!! Just go to Erica’s previous post for the details. You have until this Saturday at noon to enter!

M: Meyer Lemon Chicken Piccata and a Cocktail

I do have to thank Cooking Light for these recipes – this month’s issue is fantastic! I tend to have a love-hate relationship with this magazine. Sometimes there is not one recipe I would even think about trying, but most times there is at least a few. This month, I’m pretty sure I want to make every single recipe!

This dinner was seriously amazing. Of course, being Cooking Light, it’s a slightly lighter version of a normal chicken piccata. But, the lemon flavor was spot-on. Not overwhelming, just perfect. And, since Meyer lemons are in season right now and I bought a ton of them at Whole Foods (and apart from squeezing them into my sweet tea) this was definitely the best use for them! Let’s do this…

Sprinkle your cutlets with salt and pepper and dredge in a shallow dish of flour. Melt 1 TB of butter in a large hot skillet. Add your cutlets to the pan and cook about 2 minutes. Turn cutlets over and cook for about 1 minute. Cook your remaining cutlets the same way.

Add wine to the pan and bring to a boil, scraping the pan to loosen browned bits. Cook for about 1 minute or until the liquid almost evaporates (Please excuse the permanent brown stains on my pan – my set has seen lots of wear and tear!).

Add chicken broth, cook about 4 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and capers. Then serve over chicken and sprinkle with fresh parsley! I served with mashed potatoes and a brussel sprout casserole (which deserves its own post – will be coming soon!)

And to perfectly compliment my Meyer lemon chicken? Why, a Meyer lemon champagne cocktail of course! (recipe below) So good!

Meyer Lemon Chicken Piccata

from Cooking Light

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (or 4 cutlets)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 cup AP flour

2 TB butter, divided

1/3 cup sauvignon blanc, or other crisp white wine

1/2 cup fat free/low sodium chicken broth

1/3 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice (about 3 lemons)

2 TB capers, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

Split chicken breast halves in half horizontally to form 4 thin cutlets. Pound each cutlet between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to about 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle cutlets with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge cutlets in flour.

Melt 1 TB butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 cutlets to pan, and cook about 2 minutes. Turn over and cook about 1 minute or until cooked through. Remove cutlets. Melt remaining TB of butter in pan and cook last 2 cutlets the same way.

Remove cutlets (I placed onto a plate and wrapped with foil to keep warm). Add wine to pan, bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook about 1 minute or until liquid is almost evaporated. Stir in chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Cook until broth mixture is reduced to about 2 TB (about 4 minutes). Stir in lemon juice and capers. Serve over chicken. Sprinkle with parsley.

Sparkling Meyer Lemon Cocktail

from Cooking Light

1 cup water

1/3 cup sugar

1 rosemary sprig

1 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice, chilled (about 8 lemons)

1/3 cup chilled vodka

2 cups chilled sparkling white wine, chilled

Combine first 3 ingredients in a microwave safe dish. Microwave for about 2 1/2 minutes; stir until sugar dissolves. Let sit 10 minutes; discard rosemary. Chill.

Combine sugar mixture, juice, vodka, and sparkling wine, stirring gently. Serve immediately.

Cheers!

E: White Turkey Chili, Cornbread & Peach/Plum Crisp

Sunday was a very relaxing day. I spent quite a few hours in my kitchen, took Frank for a walk, did a little work, ran to the store….but mostly relaxed! Sunday night, we headed up to my parents house to celebrate both my Mom’s and Josh’s birthdays. Since my parents had literally just returned from vacation, I volunteered to handle the cooking.

First up, I made Mark Bittman’s Good, Old Fashioned corn bread. I used olive oil vs. butter and 1/4 cup of sugar instead of a tablespoon. The bread was very yummy and not overly sweet:

 

The cornbread went alongside Ellie Krieger’s White Chili. I cooked up the onion, celery, peppers, garlic, spices & turkey on the stove until the turkey was cooked through (no longer pink). I then transferred the mixture into the crock pot. I added the remaining ingredients (minus the hominy) and cooked it on low for 3 hours. I added the hominy and cooked on high for another 45 minutes.

 

 

Last, I made a peach & plum crisp. I sort of winged the recipe (as I’ve made a lot of crisps in the last couple years - I can post a recipe if anyone is interested!). I used a little sugar in the raw in the fruit mixture and a little brown sugar in the topping. It came out pretty tasty!

 

All the goodies (along with a gift for my Mama) were then transferred up to my parents house. A couple pictures from the night: Dinner chili topped with non-fat Chobani Greek yogurt, cheddar cheese and served with a piece of cornbread-

 

Me, my Dad & the birthday Girl!

The adorable t-shirt my parents brought back for the baby to be:

 

How did you spend your Sunday?

And the winner of the Stonyfield giveaway is…Maria!!! Maria- send us an email with your address and we’ll get your prize out to you (itzyskitchen at gmail dot com).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!