Pizza Squash

I've made a goal for myself to keep this blog going more often. I only like to post mostly homemade dishes, and for a while Dan and I were throwing together some pretty basic meals that weren't exactly blog worthy. We both have pretty busy schedules, though mine is quieter right now with no cheerleading in the spring season. Dan works 4 nights a week, and though I wish he was home with me to have dinner, it's also a good time for me to try new recipes with ingredients that he's not so fond of.

Tonight is one of those times where I made something that he would never eat...spaghetti squash. I've used spaghetti squash a few times, and it's a great substitute for pasta in a dish and can be topped with most anything. It's so easy to prepare as well. I roasted mine when I got home from work in the afternoon, let it cool for about 35 minutes so I could handle it to shred the insides out. Then made the dish. Easy as that.

I got the recipe from a Vegan cooking blog, but adapted it to my liking, which is not vegan. If you check out the original recipe, it calls for vegan sausage, so this recipe is great for any vegans out there as well. My recipe makes a boatload of this stuff, so if you like leftovers, then you can freeze it and whatnot, but if not, I would scale it in half (other than the squash).

Pizza Squash
adapted from veganyackattack.com

1 spaghetti squash
1 lb. ground turkey (I used italian seasoned turkey)
4 cups (or 2 cans) diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small can of sliced olives
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded cheddar (or whatever you like)
Any pizza toppings you like

1. Start by roasting your squash. Preheat oven to 375. Clean the squash and cut in half. Clean out the seeds and pulp. Spray a baking dish and the tops of the squash with cooking spray or brush with olive oil. Place cut side down on the greased baking dish and poke holes in the rind with a fork. Bake for 40 minutes or until flesh is tender.

2. In a large skillet, brown and crumble the turkey, until there is no pink left in the meat.
3. Add the diced tomatoes and cook over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and green peppers (or add peppers sooner if you want them softer). Stir and cook 1 minutes. Add italian seasoning, salt, and red pepper flakes.
4. Scrape out the flesh of the squash (save shells) into the sausage mix and stir to combine. Cook 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of each cheese, black olives, and pepperonis. Stir and cook 1 minute longer.
5. Spoon into empty squash shells and eat!

Any pizza toppings would be great with this. I really want to try it with a little but of sauce, pineapple, ham and feta!

Chicken Croquettes

Because I'm such a good daughter, I usually ask my mom if she needs anything when I go to the grocery store. Today, she wanted me to start making some chicken croquettes that my dad has been asking both of us to make for weeks. I grabbed the last couple items she needed and started them for her. This is a tag-team effort meal.

One word of caution for this recipe - the amount of chicken mix seems much less than it is, and in a way, it is less than the recipe says. You should be able to make 12 croquettes with this recipe, but I could make 12 meatball-sized croquettes, or 7 patty-shaped croquettes, which is what mom decided on when she came home and smashed my meatballs together to make bigger patties. The good thing is, this recipe is from AllRecipes.com, which let's you decide the serving amount and it automatically re-calculates the ingredients needed for you. Though it does not re-calculate the ingredients in the directions, so be aware of that. If you're going to make these, I recommend really mincing or even putting the chicken in a food processor if you like the traditional style of a croquette. These have bigger pieces of chicken (though still small) in them, but overall they came out yummy.

Chicken Croquettes
from allrecipes.com

2 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup
3 cups cooked chicken, finely minced ( i used a rotisserie chicken)
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. minced onion
1/4 cup minced celery
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
2 tbsp. shortening (for frying, but you could use oil)
1 cup milk
3/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs for rolling

1. Combine the chicken, 2/3 cup of soup, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, onion, celery and 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning in a bowl and mix til well combined. Shape into croquettes (you can make 12-14 meatball-sized ones or 7 patties) and chill in the fridge for an hour.
2. Remove croquettes from the refrigerator and roll in the breadcrumbs. In a large skillet, melt 1-2 tbsp of shortening and brown the croquettes on all sides. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine remaining soup, milk and poultry seasoning. Heat over low, stirring occasionally and serve over croquettes.

minced veggies

rotisserie chicken

mince it up, even smaller than that

meatballs

patties

brown 'em

gravyyyy

Atlantic City

Every March, my grandmother hosts a trip to Atlantic City that she's been doing for, I don't know, 80 years or something...

OK, maybe 30.

Anyways, the trip started as a seniors-only trip, which then got extended down to their children, and now their children (i.e. my generation) has been invited. This year was my third year going. The youngest traveler was 25, the oldest was possibly my grandmother, 83. It's quite an age range, and quite an experience.

I can't share most of the experience, since what happens in AC stays in AC, but I can share that I did not win any money (obviously since I returned home and am still blogging from my kitchen and not a burre on Turtle Island, Fiji (one day....one day it will happen). I can also share a couple of pretty good meals I had.

It's 5 o'clock somewhere! Actually it was 9 a.m. on the bus ride down to AC...

Night 1 started with a lot of gambling, drinking and general chaos at our hotel, The Trump Taj Mahal. We ended our night sitting around the hibachi at The Rim Noodle Bar. I think it may have been my idea to go there, and I got 5 others to join me in a late night snack (full meal). The Rim has a round bar around the hibachi and general kitchen area (which I did not soberly remember to photograph). You can watch the chefs prepare everything. There are also small table around the bar. The restaurant sits on one corner of the casino and is completely open for all to see...pretty neat...and pretty smart planning when you sit and eat and stare at the flashing lights and carnival-like sounds coming from the slot machines.

Here's a brief photographic rundown of some of the noodle bowls we got.

Minced pork and shrimp wonton noodle bowl.

Minced pork and shrimp dumpling noodle bowl. (My dish)

Korean Shin instant noodle bowl.

I would just like to take a moment to discuss the last bowl. It has ramen (awesome) in a broth made of possibly hot water, chicken flavor and about half a bottle of sriracha. Sriracha is a ridiculously hot chili paste used in many Asian dishes. It is delicious, but an 1/8 teaspoon is about all you need. I put a tablespoon of it into my noodle bowl and it cleared my sinuses. The Korean shin bowl also has kimchi, which is a spicy fermented napa cabbage (or other leafy vegetable). This bowl was Pam's dish, and she was determined to finish every last drop. The 5 of us watched in awe and disgust and pain as Pam lifted the bowl to her face and drank every last bit of broth, with eyes watering, making the worst face ever. Not because it tastes bad, but because it is just that spicy. She is my hero.

Crepes filled with bacon and eggs, topped with cheddar cheese sauce

For breakfast the following morning, a few of us took a stroll down the boardwalk and stopped at our favorite breakfast place in AC, The Country Kitchen. Country Kitchen is a homestyle restaurant with mismatched wooden dining tables and chairs that serves comfort food. They had new breakfast crepes filled with various things like fruit, chocolate, etc. Naturally, I, and everyone else, chose the savory crepe filled with eggs, bacon and tomatoes (I opted no tomatoes). With a side of homefries, it was one of the best breakfasts I've ever had...a close second to the eggs benedict over potato skins at the Griddle in Los Angeles.

Now, I have to wait until next year for another adventure that I will most likely not be able to share most of the details from.