WW in 20 minutes!

If you haven't already, buy this Cookbook!! I have made so many great recipes out of it that the whole family have enjoyed! And the postive thing is I know they are all healthy and made in 20 minutes. Love it!

Simple Summer Rice

Since there has been no recent post in awhile, I decided to post a "simple summer recipe" that I truly enjoyed and thought I would share.

As I have said in a previous post, I am ALL ABOUT the time saver recipes that are economical and use items I have around the house....so enjoy my Simple Summer Rice.

Ingredients:
1 whole zucchini thinly sliced
10 cherry tomatoes cut in half
1 stalk of white corn cut off the cob
1 (or if you are me, 2) cloves of garlic finely chopped
1/4 a cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cup of brown rice (I cheat and use one package of the Trader Joes instant brown rice)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Pepper to taste

Directions:
- Cook your rice how you chose to do so. Set aside.
- Place the olive oil in a skillet and brown the garlic until golden-brown.
- Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the corn. Cover and let cook for about 5 min, stirring about half way through.
- Take off the cover and add the zucchini and tomatoes. Turn up heat to medium-high.
- Saute until all vegetables are to the desired crispiness. (about 10-15 minutes is what I prefer)
- Add pepper for taste (I prefer about 1/8 a tsp)
- Add the cooked rice and stir over low heat for about 2 minutes.
- Top with parmesan and stir until cheese is melted.

My kids love this rice and never complain about eating their veggies this way.
I LOVE this rice with breaded chicken stuffed with prosciutto ham and a cold glass of chardonnay.
Perfect SUMMER meal.
Yum!

Hi Ladies! To wet your appetite for tomorrow (and for those of you who can't make it!) here are the links to the recipes I will be making.

Lemon and Basil Eggs over Foccacia

Ingredients

• 1 large loaf foccacia bread (I use whatever bread looks good that is crusty)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil combined with 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan (I also switch this up as far as the cheese I use, but it has to be finely grated)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup milk (I use non-fat)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut the top off the foccacia and hollow out the bread inside. Tear the top of the foccacia and the inside bread into 1-inch pieces and save for the egg mixture. Brush the inside of the foccacia with the lemon olive oil. Place on a baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the basil, cheese, salt, pepper, and milk. Whisk lightly. Stir in up to 4 cups of the bread pieces.

Carefully pour the egg mixture into the toasted foccacia bottom. Return to the oven and bake until the eggs have cooked, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Cut the baked foccacia into 6 to 8 pieces and serve immediately.

OPTIONAL - I sometimes add sausage to this to make it more of a complete breakfast meal. I use spicy Italian sausage (or whatever you like) and cook it up, then I add it to the the egg mixture. A tip: if the sausage is in casing, ly un-case the sausage and cook it or if it's pre-cooked, just cut it into bite-size pieces. You could add anything you like to this, just remember to lessen the amount of bread you add to the egg mixture!

Creme Brulee French Toast

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 1 (8 to 9) inch round loaf Challah bread (I use Brioche)
• 5 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon Grand Marnier (I don't use this)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a small heavy saucepan melt butter with butter with brown sugar and corn syrup over moderate heat, stirring, until smooth and pour into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Cut 6 (1-inch) thick slices from center portion of bread, reserving ends for another use, and trim crusts. Arrange bread slices in one layer in baking dish, squeezing them slightly to fit. In a bowl whisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla, Grand Marnier and salt until combined well and pour evenly over bread. Chill bread mixture, covered, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bring bread mixture to room temperature. Bake uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed and edges are pale golden, 35 to 40 minutes.

Hi Ladies!

Check your Inbox for an Evite to March Cooking Club at my house!

See you soon!

B

Our Fist meeting!

My baby boy took this picture of Holly & I think she looks cute!

Ok, it' s me Rebecca T! Totally happy because we finally met for cook club. And I made food for everyone, but there was really only 3 adults and 4 kids; so let me tell you I had a lot of left overs. Even though I did pawn some off on Holly and Becky.
Now we decided that everyone should posts their recipes on the web, instead of having to give it out to everyone.
Especially since some of us may want it on recipe cards or in a binder or what have you.
I'm great with that. Hope everyone else is too!

Well, I went with a southwestern theme and made Southwestern Lasagna & Southwestern Quiche. Plus a few other things. Here are the recipes:

Southwestern Lasagna:

2lbs of Ground Beef or Turkey
1 medium onion
Taco seasoning for 2lb of meat
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes undrained
1 small can diced green chilies
1 small can sliced olives
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups or 1lb cottage cheese
1 egg
1 lb of Monterrey jack cheese thinly sliced
10 corn tortillas
1 cup shredded cheese

In skillet, cook the beef and onion over medium heat until meat is brown; drain. Stir in taco seasoning (can substitute 15 oz can of enchilada sauce too) diced tomatoes, oives, green chiles, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
In a bowl mix egg & cottage cheese, add a little salt and pepper if you like. In greased 13x9x2 pan put a third of the meat, then top with sliced jack cheese, then spread 1/2 the cottage cheese mixture, and top with tortillas. Repeat layers. Top with remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
Cover and bake for 30 to 45 minutes at 350. Uncover; bake 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Now on the above recipe I normally make the meat sauce the night before. Just easier that way. And it really calls for enchilada mix, but I have always used taco seasoning.


Southwestern Quiche:

1 pkg Corn bread muffin Mix (8.5 oz)
2 Tblsp butter or margaine, melted
1 Tblsp water
13 eggs
1 cup shredded cheese, divided
1 lb of bulk pork sausage cooked and drained
1 cup milk
1 can (14 3/4 oz) cream-style corn
2 cans (4oz) Chopped green chilies
2 Tblsp finely chopped Onion
1 Cup of Salsa

In a bowl, combine the muffin mix, butter, water and 1 egg; stir just until moistened. Spread in a greased 13x9x2 baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 the cheese. In a large bowl, beat the remaining eggs. Add the sausage, milk, corn, chilies, and onions; pour over batter.
Bake uncovered at 350 for 60 to 70 minutes or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Top with salsa and remaining cheese. Bake 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Okay side note on this dish. We decided that a 1/2 tsp of chili powder in the cornbread mix would make it better. Plus I only put one can of green chilis and didn't do the salsa. I put it on the table to add as they pleased.

Easy and Pleasin' Pasta

Hi! Teren here. Since I am a loser and cannot come to the first official "Cooking Club" meeting, I decided I would add to our blog and post one of my favorite quick and easy meals.
Being a mommy with two little boys, I love recipes that are quick, healthy, economical, create left-overs, and more importantly are KID FRIENDLY!
Needless to say, I have come to create many meals out of items I already have in the pantry. This is one of those creations and it uses one of my favorite items- spinach chicken sausage (I get the glutton free kind at Costco- love em!!!)

Ingredients:
1 box of whole grain pasta, I prefer fusilli.
3 roma tomatoes chopped
1 bag of fresh packaged spinach
1 clove of fresh garlic, finely chopped... I normally add more though (I like garlic)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
4 spinach chicken sausages

Directions:- Cook pasta and sausages according to their packages (I prefer to cook the sausages using the frying pan, but you can also grill, bake, or even microwave them). Cut up sausages into bite size pieces once done cooking and put that and the pasta to the side.
- Heat up olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and saute until it becomes a golden brown. Add in tomatoes and stir until the tomatoes become soft (4-5 minutes). Add in spinach a handful at a time, coating each handful in the tomatoes. Once all spinach has been added, saute for about one more minute. I prefer to "wilt" the spinach, but it is up to you. Add in cut up sausage, mix well.
- Add mixture to pasta and ta-da. Easy and pleasin!
-ENJOY- it creates a lot of leftovers, and I even like it more the second day!

Lombardo Fajitas

Welcome to the Gourmet Girlfriends Blog! I am so excited that we are starting out this cooking adventure together and I can’t wait to exchange some delicious recipes, learn some helpful tips, and have many get-togethers with laughter, love, and yummy food!

Since this blog has many contributors I think it’s safe to put it out there that anyone can post anything at any time! Beck asked me to break the ice so here goes.

Lombardo Fajitas

Skirt steak is on sale at Ralphs so we got this piece for $3 and I threw together some marinade this morning for dinner tonight. I call this Lombardo Fajitas because the recipe calls for things like limes and jalapeños, but I didn’t have those things so I made it up as I went! In our house we LOVE lemons, I buy a 6 lb bag every 2 weeks cuz we go thru them so fast and I am also REALLY bad at measuring, must be the Mexican in me! Here’s what I used:

Marinade

juice of 1 lemon

spoonful of minced garlic

spoonful ground cumin (prob about ½ tblspn)

1 Serrano chili pepper diced (remove pulp and seeds)

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, including stems

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Lay the meat out in a single layer in a Ziploc bag; divide the marinade evenly on both sides of the meat. Spread the marinade around with your fingers; really give it a good massage. Marinate for 1 hour – 2 days, depending on your time. Refrigerate if over 1 hour.

Prep
Pull the meat out of the fridge first and allow it to come to room temp while you prep the veggies. You can use anything you like for fajitas; we use 1 green bell pepper and 1 onion. Cut both into lengthwise slices.

Cook
Heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil — or other high-heat oil like peanut or canola, but definitely not extra virgin olive — over very high heat in an uncoated pan. Leaving the marinade in the bag, remove the steak and lay it in the pan, be very careful of splatter. Turn it over after two or three minutes. When the steak is well browned on both sides, pull it out and slice thin slices against the grain. It should still be slightly pink.

Toss the peppers and onions into the same pan you did the steak in. Pour any remaining marinade from the bag into the pan to help deglaze — scrape up the brown bits from the pan. Toss the onions and peppers frequently until the onions are translucent and the peppers are soft. If any of the cooked on bits didn’t come loose when you added the marinade, add about a quarter cup of warm water and scrape it all up. Keep stirring over high heat until all the water is absorbed or cooked off. Transfer the onions and peppers to a serving dish

Add the steak back in to the pan and toss quickly to reheat it and brown up the cut edges. Transfer meat to a serving dish (I use the same platter for the veggies and the meat).

Serve with tortillas, cheese, pico, etc.  Gus and I are really loving iceberg lettuce instead of tortillas, try one, SO YUM!!!