Grilled Mahi Mahi and CousCous

This is easily my new favorite thing to make. I like to buy the mahi mahi bag of fish at Costco and keep it for fish tacos, so I looked up a recipe on the Food Network, then modified it to fit me and make it SUPER easy.
(hopefully we'll have a photo coming soon... I made it last night and it was super cute but I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture)

THE COUSCOUS
2 cups chicken broth or water
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup couscous
2 scallions, sliced on an angle
1 carrot, shredded or grated
1 navel orange, peeled and chopped

Boil the first four ingredients. When it comes to a boil, remove from heat and stir in the couscous. Let sit for ten minutes. Stir in the last three ingredients.
(they also have stuff like some raisins, which I never have so I skip)

THE "SALSA"
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
dash of ginger
1/4 cucumber, seeded, peeled and chopped
couple shakes of chives

Originally, this was a mango salsa, but since mangoes are expensive and rarely in season, I just omitted it. Instead, I mix this stuff all in with the couscous, since it all gets mixed up on my plate anyways.

THE FISH
2-3 mahi mahi steaks (3 because usually I eat one and Brad eats 2)
olive oil
salt
pepper
lime

Heat a grill pan/electric griddle to high. Drizzle oil over fish, rub in s&p, drizzle lime. Cook about 5 minutes on each side, or until fish is opaque.


I usually start the couscous, grill the fish, and cut up the "extras" while those two get going. Seriously, this can be done in as short as 15 minutes. It's good, and adds a nice mix-up from boring everyday same-o same-o.

pesto pizza.

need something ready in less than 30 minutes? this is your answer.

1. preheat oven to 450F.
2. slice a loaf of crusty french bread in half lengthwise (separate the top and the bottom). the one i used is "la brea bakery" that many grocery stores bake fresh daily (smiths, whole foods, costco). place halves on a sturdy jelly roll pan or cookie sheet.
3. mix 1/3 C prepared pesto (also can be purchased at a grocery store near you including sunflower market or costco) and 2 tsp minced garlic.
4. spread pesto mixture evenly on both halves of the bread.
5. top pesto bread with rotisserie chicken (my favorite is the one at costco for $4.99) and diced tomatoes.
6. sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
7. cook in oven for 10-15 minutes or until cheese starts to become golden.
8. slice with your favorite bread knife and EAT.
mm, delicious.

Zucchini Bread

So in my attempt to broaden my limited cook book I joined allrecipes.com, and now receive an email each day with a new recipe. I like this website because people rate the recipes and leave comments on how to make them better. (If you ever get a recipe off of here, make sure you read the comments because some of the changes are essential to the success of the recipe. I learned this the hard way on one recipe). I got an email for this zucchini bread recipe and saw that it has 5 out of 5 starts with over a 1,000 people rating it. Figured it must be pretty good. Eli says says its gets 5 stars.

For the recipe click here

Or here it is with my comments:

Servings: 2 regular bread size loafs (I halved the recipe and only made one because there is no way Eli and I can eat two). Oh other cool thing about allrecipes.com, it lists the serving size, but you can change them and it recalculated the recipe numbers for you. In the past I have totally messed up on a recipe because I forget I am halving or doubling and add too much or too little of one ingredient.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

I changed the sugar to only two cups and used half white sugar and half brown sugar (someone suggested it on a comment) and I think it turned out yummy with that. I could just taste a little bit of the brown sugar in there. Other suggestions included, using 1 1/2 cups white flour and
1 1/2 cups wheat flour. Also use 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup apple sauce. I am definitely going to try these out next time now that I know I like the recipe.
Lastly, I used a medium to large zucchini (medium to large for a store bought zucchini, not like those crazy sized ones you can grow in the garden) and it made about a 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini. Just add as much zucchini as you like. This is a recipe you can play around with. I just used the cheese size grater for grating since I had no idea and I think it was a good size. Also, I didn't have the nuts which I am sure would have been great, but it is still very good without.

DIRECTIONS
1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes (mine was the full 60), or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

P.S. If you haven't tried Whitney's wheat bread recipe. You have to! Changed my life. I am now making it once a week and not buying bread. So easy and so worth it.

wheat bread.

okay, i know what you are thinking.
"bread?!...i thought we were only posting simple recipes for two."
you can do this recipe. promise. its only 7 ingredients and it only takes 6 minutes to combine them. and the results are well worth the whole process. there is nothing like hot, fresh, homeade bread. tastes best with butter, butter and honey, or peanut butter. also good for grilled cheese, paninis, etc in the days following. it does make 3 loaves so if you won't consume that much bread in about 3-4 days, i suggest freezing a loaf or giving one away. also, you can buy wheat flour in a grocery store or in bulk (sunflower market in orem has it). if you get really into it, then you can buy a wheat grinder and make your own wheat flour--this was actually one of my bridal gifts and i totally love it.

Victoria’s Six-Minute Magic Bread
Put the following into the bowl of your Kitchenaid or Bosch mixer, in this order:
2/3 cup sugar or honey (either works fine)
2 tsp. salt
3 cups hot water from the tap
1 cup canola oil (or butter–if it is cold, cut it up first)
4 cups whole wheat flour (from about 2 cups whole wheat)
6 cups white flour
2 tbsp. active dry yeast
Mix all ingredients in your mixer using the dough hook attachment for six minutes. Meanwhile, warm your oven slightly (I turn mine on for 2-3 minutes). Check your dough. It should be pulling away from the sides of the bowl. If it is too sticky, add a little flour, until it comes to the right consistency. Don’t make it too stiff, or your bread will be dry.
Butter a large bowl. Turn dough into the buttered bowl, and then turn it over to coat both sides in butter. Cover with a kitchen towel and place in your warm oven (make sure the oven is turned off, and that it is not too hot... you don’t want to kill the yeast). Set the timer for one hour and twenty minutes.
After one hour and twenty minutes, form the dough into three loaves and place in lightly buttered loaf pans. The way I like to form my loaves is to press them with my hands into a rectangle that is the width of the long end of the bread pan (about 9 inches) and about twice that long. Then I roll the rectangle up, making sure to leave no air pockets (which turn into holes in your bread), and placing the roll in the pan seam-side down. One advantage of this method is that if you want to add a sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar before rolling it up, you can do so. This makes really beautiful round-top bread.
Place the loaves back in the warm oven and cover them with the towel again. Set the timer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, take the towel off. The loaves should be rounded about an inch above the top of the loaf pans. If they are not, give them another five minutes. Then turn on the oven to 350 degrees (you don’t need to preheat). Set the timer for 30 minutes again. After 30 minutes, remove the bread from the oven, and immediately turn the loaves out of the pans and place upright on a cookie cooling rack to cool completely. Any loaves that you don’t eat immediately hot from the oven with butter and honey, you can place in plastic bags, but only when they are completely cool.
To make white bread, rather than wheat, just use white flour in place of the wheat. You might adjust the second rise time to about 25 minutes, as the white loaves tend to rise a little faster. You may also use just a pinch less yeast for white loaves.

buffalo chicken wraps.

gives you the yummy flavor of buffalo wings without all the calories. it is fast, easy, and easy to make for 2 or 10.

2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce
3 tablespoons white vinegar, divided
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound chicken tenders
2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
4+ tortillas
4+ romaine lettuce leaves
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup diced tomato

Whisk hot pepper sauce, 2 tablespoons vinegar and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cut chicken into chunks and cook until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle. Add to the bowl with the hot sauce; toss to coat well.
Whisk mayonnaise, yogurt, pepper and the remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar in a small bowl. Stir in blue cheese.
Let everyone assemble their own wraps.
Mm, yummy.

Saydi's 40 minute pizza dough

So it has been a long time since I have posted anything. I was on the Navajo reservation in May where my diet consisted of grilled cheese, box pancakes, and cereal. Didn't think anyone needed those recipes. Now we are in Salt Lake and having to start cooking again. I got this from my sister-in-law Saydi who is probably one of the best cooks ever.


Surprisingly easy, cheap, and tastes way better than anything you can buy.

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 envelope rapid rise yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt

First off, turn oven to 200 until it heats up and then turn it off. Pour water in mixer. Sprinkle sugar and yeast over the water. Let the yeast sit for minute until foams. Add oil, flour, salt. Mix until dough forms. Slightly oil a glass bowl and put dough in. Put saran wrap over the bowl and put in oven for 40 minutes.

If you want the crust really fluffy, knead with hands. Eli tried it by hand and I used a rolling pin. Mine was good, but mine was more of a thing crust style. His was much more fluffy. Just go with whatever your style is.

Use whatever sauce and toppings you prefer and enjoy!
P.S. We cooked it at 500 for about 10 minutes and the crust turned out to have a perfect crisp to it.

Chicken Parmesan

I feel like this is a typical recipe, but holy crap I made it last night and it was AWESOME!

Chicken Parmesan

Serves: 4 (can be altered), Prep: about 10-15 minutes, Bake: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
2 cups (ish) spaghetti sauce
1 large egg
2 tablespoons water
2/3 cup dried bread crumbs (or saltines, or make your own, or whatever)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive and/or vegetable oil
2 cups shredded mozzarella
8 chicken tenderloins (Brad eats like 3 tenderloins, I eat 1 or 2. I think most people eat 2) or 4 chicken breasts
Spaghetti noodles (Brad requires these with his chick parmesan)

How to:
- Start boiling the water for the noodles. Then add them and stuff... (make the spaghetti noodles)
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Beat egg and water in a small bowl. Mix bread crumbs and Parmesan in a small dish/plate.
- Heat oil over medium heat in a 12" skillet (ish... I like a frying pan for it's non-stick qualities).
- Pound the chicken to about 1/4 inch thick; place each piece between sheets of saran wrap/wax paper and pound with a meat mallet.
- Dip the chicken into egg mixture then crumb mixture and cook in the oil until no longer pink in the center, turning once.
- Place the cooked chickens in an 9x13 dish. Cover with the spaghetti sauce then mozzarella cheese.
- Bake uncovered for about 25 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is light brown.
Serve over spaghetti noodles.


It looks hard, but I swear it's not (I can do it). And it tastes SO good (it'd better, it's fried in oil).

I haven't tried it as a make-ahead yet. If you do, let me know how it goes.

{image from here}

peanut butter oatmeal.

i may be in the middle east right now but that doesn't mean that american girls do not find a way to satisfy their cravings for cookies. today (friday) is our church day in jordan and that means treat day so this is what we are making...

1 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1½ cups rolled oats
2 tsp. baking soda
1½ tsp. salt
2 cups M&M candies (or chocolate chips, or both)

Cream together butters and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Stir in dry flour, oats, baking soda and salt until combined, then gently stir in M&Ms. Chill for about an hour, and then drop by tablespoonsful onto cookie sheet. Flatten slightly, and then bake at 375 degrees for about ten minutes, or until just barely starting to turn golden. Remove from pan carefully, as they are very tender until they cool.

Cafe Rio Pork

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup Sprite or Dr. Pepper or Coke
1 cup salsa (any kind will do)
pork tenderloin (I like to buy the two pack at Costco and freeze one)

Cook in crock pot on low for 8 hours. Shred with a fork.

Eat.
(I usually serve it with tortillas, cheese, more salsa, black beans, corn, rice, avocado... the options are limitless)

Serves... plenty. I like having the leftovers. I would say that at least four people with Brad appetites would be filled.

{PS - I propose that we come up with labels like "Easy," "Few ingredients," "Not as easy but totally worth it," "Desserts," "Lunch," etc. and make links on the sidebar to each category so that it's easier to search... perhaps we could even add type of food....}

Taco Soup

1  lb. hamburger

1  small onion chopped (optional i never add this)

2  1/2 c. chunky salsa (i just use the big pace kind)

1  15 0z. can red kidney beans, drained

1  28 oz. can chopped tomatoes, undrained

1  15 oz. can corn, undrained

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 T. taco seasoning mix

Garnishes: grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, sliced green onions, tortilla chips (all optional)

Brown hamburger and onion in large saucepan until meat is no longer pink and onion is transparent. Drain fat and place in a large crock-pot or soup pot.  Add all remaining ingredients and stir to combine. cook on low in crock-pot, or simmer in soup pan, several hours or until soup is heated through and flavors are well blended. Ladle into bowls and garnish as desired.

I just use the pan method so it is fast and easy and it is substantial enough for our boys for dinner.  Keith loves it.

Crock Pot Chicken

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 c chicken broth
1 envelope of good seasons italian dressing
1 can cream of chicken soup

Mix on low in sauce pan then put 4 frozen chicken breasts (or like 12 tenderloins) in crock pot and pour mixture over. Cook on high for 4 hours. Easy to double or half. After cooked break up or shred chicken if you'd like and pour mixture over rice.

pizza-dilla.

this recipe comes from an old friend in seattle whose mom taught me to play the piano. this variation on a quesadilla has quickly become a favorite in my book because it is easy, fast, and delicious.

1 can fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
mozzarella cheese (i prefer a 50-50 mix with feta)
3-4 chicken tenderloins or two chicken breast, cubed
oregano
basil
salt & pepper
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
olive oil
tortillas

cook the chicken. while the chicken is cooking, drizzle some olive oil in pan and cook the garlic for a minute. add the fire-roasted tomatoes and cooked chicken to the garlic and shake some oregano, s&p, basil, any other desired spices over it. let the mixture simmer for a couple of minutes. in another pan, lightly drizzled with olive oil, lay your tortilla down and cover it with a layer of cheese. add some of the tomato mixture on top, then sprinkle more cheese over that, laying another tortilla on top. cook. flip. cook. lunch/snack/dinner in 10 minutes.

quick note on the tortillas. the best of the best in my opinion are the uncooked tortillas found at costco. but with two people and 44 tortillas, we run into problems. so i have started to divide the tortillas into groups of 6-7, put in gallon sized ziploc bags, and then freeze all but one group. when i start to run out, i just pull a bag out of the freezer and they are ready to go in a few hours. mm, delicious.

Oatmeal Pancakes

2 c. milk
3-4 T. butter
2 c. rolled oats

Microwave these three ingredients until butter is melted.

2 eggs
1/2 c. flour (can do 1/2 white 1/2 wheat)
1 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 banana mashed with a fork

Mix all of these ingredients into the oats, butter and milk. You can 1/2 this recipe for two people, but keep the same amount for sugar, baking soda and baking powder.

Banana Nut Pancakes

Shout out to the Looslis (Eli's sister Saren's fam). They made these for us one trip to St. George and they are awesome. I like that you probably have all of the ingredients in your kitchen right now. Also, I loved the whole wheat in them; makes you feel like you are eating more than just sugar for breakfast. Lastly, even if you aren't a huge nut person, add them anyway. Just trust me on that one. Enjoy!

2 mashed extra-ripe bananas
1 1/3 – 1 ½ cups milk (the amount of milk will determine how thick the pancakes are – start with 1 1/3 cups and add a little more later to get to desired consistency)
2 tbsp melted butter
2 eggs
1 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour (can use all white if you don't have WW flour)
3 tsp. baking powder
3 tbsp. sugar (or honey or molasses)
2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

Mix together wet ingredients, add and mix in dry ingredients, fold in walnuts. Turn on griddle or frying pan to medium high heat. Use ½ cup measuring cup to put batter on hot griddle or frying pan. Once bubbles come up on the raw side of the pancake, flip it over. Cook until both sides are golden brown. Serve with maple syrup or fruit and whipped cream on top.

Enough for 15-20 pancakes.