Day one of 21 day fix by Beachbody

Candied Tomatoes

These have an incredible taste. You can store them in olive oil in the refrigerator.

6 large ripe tomatoes (I usually use Roma's)
1/4 cup olive oil
salt

Preheat oven to 325 F. Slice the tomatoes in half crosswise. Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet, cut side up. (Note, I find the tomatoes get juicy when backing, so I use a baking sheet with a ridge, like one you would use for a cake roll/jelly roll.) Pour the oil over the tomatores. Sprinkle with salt as desired. Bake for about 2 hours until tomatoes are wrinkled on the outside, but still somewhat moist in the center. (We like them just a bit browned)

You can serve these warm or cold and can be used in omelets. We cook fish on them. Put them over baked chicken breast.

SO many uses! If you use them for something, post a comment. I would love to see the many ways they can be used!

Tarragon Chicken Salad in Lettuce Cups

This serves 4 - 6 Think of your lettuce leaves instead of tortillas! Wrap filling in them! That is what this one is about.

Just a note: I used the cooked chicken that was taken off the bone when I cooked chicken stock. Well... I thought all the taste was gone! So next time, what I will do is to partially freeze the chicken and cut the meat off. Then when I make stock, I'll have primarily the bones and things. I'll update the blog the next time I do that with an update!

HOMEMADE MAYONNAISE (Makes 1 1/2 cups)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
dash of tabasco sauce
dash of worcestershire sauce
1 cup vegetable oil

Combine all the ingredients except the oil in a bowl. Blend with a whisk, or in a blender. Add the oil very gradually in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Adjust seasoning to taste and refrigerate.

You can keep in the for a week. It has a smooth and silky texture, unlike store bought thick store bought.

CHICKEN SALAD
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
3 tablespoon homemade mayonnaise
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
1/4 sweet onion (maui or vidalia), finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon (or 1/2 teaspoon dried... I used dried)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients for chicken salad in a bowl and mix until well combined. Adjust seasonings.

LETTUCE CUPS
4 - 6 romaine lettuce leaves
3 green onions, chopped
sprigs of fresh tarragon, for garnish (which I didn't have. We sprinkled with paprika)

Place a large dollop of chicken salad in each lettuce leaf. Garnish with green onions and tarragon. Then fold it up like a taco and enjoy!

Oriental Turkey Meatball Soup

Ingredients:
6 cups chicken broth
1 pound ground turkey, rolled into 1-in balls
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
5 slices fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 heads baby bok choy

Bring the broth to a boil and add the turkey meatballs, celery, ginger, soy sauce and red pepper flakes. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Then add the bok choy and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Serve immediately.


Notes:
We really loved this soup. I actually added on TABLESPOON of red pepper flakes and it was spicy! I skimmed off the extra and added soy sauce to cut the heat.

I actually made home made chicken broth. Recipe to come later!

Not Sommersizing!

 

This certainly ISN'T Sommersizing! But I have been taking a Wilton Cake Decorating class for 4 weeks and had my "final" last night.

This is my cake for the final. Okay, so why am I posting it? Because during the 4 weeks I ate WAAAY too much of the icing! I have gained weight and need to get back on track. During the last month I only did one new recipe. And I'll post that one later.

So who's with me! Ready to go back and get grounded with what we know we need to do? I AM!

(((HUGS)))

Brenda

Stuffed Zucchini

I love Italian squash, and this was really good!

6 med zucchini
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 med onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
salt & pepper
Pinch of hot red pepper flakes (optional)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (I actually used my gas grill! Yep!)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Parboil the zucchini for 5 minutes, then remove from the water and let cool. Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides, creating a bowl to hold the stuffing. Reserve the zucchini insides in a medium bowl.

Heat a medium frying pan over high heat. Add the olive oil, onion, and red pepper. Saute until the onion is transparent and the pepper is soft and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat and add to the reserved zucchini. Season with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and oregano. Add the beaten eggs and blend the mixtures, mashing the zucchini well.

Fill the zucchini shells with equal parts cheese, pepper, and thyme. Place in an ungreased shallow baking dish and bake for 35 minutes, until stuffing is golden brown and bubbly. Serve immediately

Beef Stir Fry

The actual name for this is Beef Stir-Fry with Fragrant Vegetables. Now I don't know what she means by fragrant vegetables. I guess because her list includes things I use most every day. The great thing about stir fry is you can use just about any vegetables you have on hand. So for instance... she called for 2 cups broccoli florets... I didn't have any frozen, but I had about 4 pieces I cut from my garden. Not quite 2 c. :) But I did have two yellow squash and just about a cup of white mushrooms! I just added them! And the other thing I noticed I did different.... She called for the squash to be sliced... I thought I read DICED! But I really liked the squash diced. I didn't feel like I had to cut it up and didn't overtake my meal because remember I used TWO! :)

The beef turned out great too. I don't normally make beef stir fry. I don't cook that much beef. But I found some thinly sliced sirloin at walmart and decided to try it. Well... hubby and I got the schedule messed up for the Monday I was going to serve this so the sirloin marinated 24 hours instead of 1. Not sure if that made much difference, but it didn't seem to hurt anything!

Here's the recipe:

The Marinade part:
3/4 pound boneless sirloin trimmed of fat and cut into 1/4 in strips
2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger (don't forget to peel it!)
2 garlic cloves, minced (I did add more garlic... Italians you know)
1/2 cup beef broth (I used one of those cubes)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Marinate the beef strips for at least 1 hour in a mixture of the ginger, garlic, broth, soy sauce and vegetable oil. (As I am typing this I realized I didn't add in the vegtable oil! Oops!)


2 bups broccoli florets
1 yellow squashed, sliced (remember, I diced mine)
1 red bell pepper, julienned
4 green onions, sliced on the diagonal
1/3 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and the broccoli. Cook the broccoli for about 5 minutes, add the squash and stirfry for about a additional 2 - 3 minutes. Add the bell pepper and cook 1 - 2 more minutes. Remove the begetables and set aside.

Add another tablesppon of vegetable oil, the beef strips, including the marinade and cook over high heat for a minute or two, until just cooked through. Stir the vegetables back into the wok to reheat, adding the green onion and red pepper flakes. After about 1 minute, remove from the heat. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!