March 2014 Food Challenges Whoot Whoot!!

Are you just SUPER pumped and raring to go after those 
Spectacular February adventures!? 

I know I am!! 

Without delay the March Cooking Challenges are...

March Week 1 (3/3-3/9) - Use Quinoa

March Week 2 (3/10-3/16) - Crock pot Chili

March Week 3 (3/17-3/23) - Thai Recipe

March Week 4 (3/24-3/30) - Eggs for Dinner!?

Have FUN! And may your recipe choices be ever in your favor! 

Healthy Chicken Fajita Salad

February Week 4 - Whip Up A Packed With Vitamins Salad!
Senorita Ferren back at ya with another M-Azing recipe!

Now I'm pretty sure I didn't exactly follow the instructions of the challenge this week (Mel don't kill me ;) But I did find a great recipe off of the LiveStrong Website and since it's a pretty healthy looking website I figured it should count at least a little :) 

Here It Is: Healthy Chicken Fajita Salad

 

I rate this recipe 2.5-3 stars out of 5!

(And bonus this time my picture looks better than the one on the blog!)

Reasons: This was a delicious salad and I really liked it. I like salads that have lots of different ingredients to keep things interesting and this salad kept it interesting. 

My 18 month old LOVED it! He had 2.5 bowls of it! I mean what kind of 18 month old likes salad so this one has to be good, right!?

Notes: Be careful, I don't know if our fajita marinade was just super spicy or if that is how all fajita marinades are. It packed a punch! 

I also sneaked in some freshly shredded carrot! Even healthier! 

The mushrooms add an interesting texture and taste, not bad, just not expected in a mexican salad. 

The contributor says that you can add rice or a whole wheat tortilla to make this into a great recovery meal after a workout! Bonus!

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 2 chicken breasts, sliced
• 1 cup red onion, sliced (I chopped it)
• 1 bell pepper, sliced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 bottle fajita marinade
• 1, 8 oz package pre chopped Romaine Lettuce 
• 1/4 cup pre-shredded cheese
• 1 T fresh guacamole (super easy to make, this is the recipe I used: Link)
• 1 T fresh salsa

For instructions go to the blog: http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/healthy-chicken-fajita-salad/

February Week 4 Whip Up a Packed-With-Vitamins Salad - Weekend Glow Kale Salad

If you're looking for an excellent salad that everyone is sure to enjoy, then you HAVE to make the weekend Glow Kale Salad. 

I found this recipe on Chatelaine.com - Kale Salad - Packed With Vitamins That Will Make You Glow and I'm stoked about this salad.

I don't make a lot of salads around here because I feel like they're boring and not filling enough. Don't you feel like that? Well, I was pleasantly surprised when I made this and found it filling, delicious, and a must make every week for lunches. 

I feel like I need to buy new plates just to showcase this amazing salad!

Ingredients:

1/2 large head of kale (about 5-6 cups packed)

1 cup finely chopped red onion

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2-3/4 cup chopped carrot (2 small carrots)

1 english cucumber (2 cups chopped halves)

1 avocado, chopped

1 1/4 cup chopped grape tomatoes (or other variety)

1/2 cup mixed raisins and goji berries

1/4 cup hemp seed

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Lightened up tahini-lemon dressing:

1/4 cup Tahini

3 garlic cloves

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

3 tbsp water, or as needed 

Recipe Round-Up:

This recipe gets a 5 out of 5!

WHOA! Am I serious about this or what?!

Yes, for these reasons:

1. The flavor of this salad is so full of different sensations from the crispiness of the vegetables to the tangy, sweet, goodness of the dressing, it makes your mouth (and body) crave each bite.

2. I didn't feel guilty about eating a giant bowl/plate of this and it was very filling. I didn't feel starved after I was done. 

3. The amount I made looked like the salad would last for days. I dreaded we would waste it, but ALAS, it was more than half gone that night, and eaten for lunch the next day, meaning: NOT ONE BIT OF THIS WENT TO THE TRASH CAN, WE ATE IT ALL! That's a miracle around this house.

4. Did I mention that this is packed with vitamins, so I am pretty sure this helped out with getting all the nutritional support I needed for the day.

5. DH LOVED this salad and is A-OKAY with me making this again. 

I could easily go on, but I will spare you. JUST MAKE THE SALAD ALREADY! You won't regret it. 

Here is the link again in case you missed it: http://www.chatelaine.com/health/kale-salad-packed-with-vitamins-that-will-make-you-glow/

Turkey Fennel Meat Sauce

February Week 3 - Try Cooking With Fennel
At first I thought this week was going to be easy, then as I searched recipes Google came up with some really weird looking recipes. I LOVE to try new foods, but these just looked CraZy! I choose a meatball recipe at first but oh man: Ain't Nobody Got Time Fo That Recipe! I was blessed to come across an amazing pasta sauce found on the blog: Cookin' Skinny and as the name implies she has a ton of amazing looking recipes that are healthy to boot! I will definitely be checking out her blog for more recipe ideas!

Now onto what you have been waiting for...drum roll please!

Turkey Fennel Meat Sauce

 

I rate this recipe 4 out of 5 stars!! 

Yes, you read that right. This recipe was awesome!

Reasons: My husband and son loved it so much they had seconds! My husband hates...okay strongly dislikes normal boring ol' red pasta sauce and my son hates pasta recipes in general...so them liking this recipe is a HUGE deal!

The spices were a perfect blend of amazingness! 

And it was super duper easy! I love simple recipes, they are perfect for my schedule!

Notes: She lets her simmer in a dutch oven, I don't have one of those so I just let it simmer in a pan on my stove top and it turned out great! 

Although SUPER simple to prepare, I would start preparing a head of time to let it simmer, the ground turkey tastes so much better if you let it simmer!

This made great leftovers! 

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 1.5 Hours

Ingredients: 

•  1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp fennel seed
• 1/4 tsp red chili flakes
• 1/2 cup chopped white or yellow onion
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1 lb lean ground turkey
• 1/4 red wine
• 1 1/2 cups roasted garlic marinara
• 1 bay leaf
• pinch cinnamon
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade

For instructions visit the blog: http://cookinskinny.com/2012/11/turkey-fennel-meat-sauce/

February Week 3 Try Cooking With Fennel - Browned Butter Fennel Gratin

Melissa checking in here...check one, two, check, check. Good! Let's go!

I've cooked with fennel before but only once. I enjoyed it but the recipients of the dish didn't find it as delightful as I did. I think that's why I was looking forward to this dish because I want people to like fennel. 

This recipe came out of my Better Homes and Gardens Magazine. If you know me, then you know I love this magazine. I usually try to make at least one recipe from the magazine a month. And they always turn out great!

You can find the recipe here: Browned Butter Fennel Gratin

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter

3 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed, cored, and sliced crosswise

3 stalks celery, sliced

2 large Vidalia or other sweet yellow onions, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices

6 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)

1/4 cup whipping cream

2 tablespoons snipped fresh dill

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup coarse Italian or French bread crumbs

2 tablespoons finely chopped hazelnuts

  Fresh dill sprigs

I rate this recipe high, 4.5 out of 5. The flavor of this dish is excellent but here were my challenges:

I put this on my meal plan as a main dish. WRONG! This is a side dish. I had to quickly figure out what else we would eat with this at the last minute. Maybe I should have known this because it's a gratin, but I didn't. 

The grocery store I shop at was sold out of fresh fennel. So I bought endives in place and seasoned like crazy with fennel seeds. Since I plan on making this again and again, I will use the fresh fennel when it's available. I felt this was a suitable substitute and I wasn't disappointed.

Besides those two things, this side dish was great and it was half eaten between two of us the night I cooked it, then gone by the next day. I can picture eating this with baked chicken or even a pork chop and then putting a salad on the side. 

This is a must make!  

Black Bean Chili with Chocolate and Coconut

February Week 2 - Incorporate Chocolate Into A Meal!
Ferren here again! Moving onto this interesting challenge of incorporating chocolate into a meal. At first I was thinking of taking the easy way out and making waffles or pancakes for dinner but after googling some recipes I decided to give one a try. I kept it a secret from my husband until after he had tried it. 

This week's meal was found on the blog Gimme Some Oven a blog full of tons and tons of recipes!

Black Bean Chili with Chocolate and Coconut

I'm not going to lie, I stole this picture from the blog. 

I rate this recipe at most 1.5 stars...

Reasons: My chili didn't look very appealing.

It took longer for me to cook it so that the beans weren't all hard and crunchy. 

It was bland, it was spicy but it didn't have much flavor. 

I have had a much better tasting black bean chili

It wasn't gross but it wasn't good

Notes: The chocolate and coconut barely affect the taste so don't worry!

Make sure to test the beans, to make sure you cook them long enough. 

About 6-8 servings. 

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 2 Hours 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup good-quality chili powder
• 1 Tbs cumin
• 8 cups water
• 1 lb dried black beans, rinsed
• 1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies
• 1/4 cup coconut flakes
• 2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1-3 tsp minced canned chipotle chilies in adobo, to taste
• toppings: chocolate chips and additional toasted coconut flakes

For the instructions visit: http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/black-bean-chili-with-chocolate-and-coconut/

If you dare to try this, let me know what you think. Perhaps give me some tips to make it taste better :) 

February Week 2 Incorporate Chocolate Into a Meal - Chocolate Barbecue Sauce

For the second challenge of February, I decided to make a Chocolate Barbecue Sauce recipe and pour it over meatloaf. You could put this on a variety of things, but I thought meatloaf would be quite simple.

Well, the meatloaf recipe I used wasn’t that great, so I was actually disappointed with that. The chocolate barbecue sauced made the meatloaf easy to eat. In fact, it was better the second day.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I give this recipe a 2.5. I would make it again, but not that often. I won’t be making that meatloaf again though. So if you know of a great meatloaf recipe, please share it.

Here is the link for the chocolate barbecue sauce: 

Chocolate Barbecue Sauce via Saveur.com

I will make this again this summer and put it on chicken I think, just to try something different.

Overall, the recipe for the BBQ/Choco Sauce is good, just pick something tasty for it to go with; and don't use a crappy meatloaf recipe like I did. 

Hoisin Pork with Rice Noodles

February Week 1 - Chinese Food!
Hello, My name is Ferren...I love to cook new recipes and thankfully my husband and 18 month old son love trying out new things. Thankfully this first challenge wasn't too difficult and I was able to find a simple recipe that easily fit into my busy schedule. 

I found this meal on Pinterest of course, from a blog called Pinch of Yum Lindsay and her husband Bjork work together to create a wonderful blog that is full of awesome looking recipes!

Hoisin Pork with Rice Noodles

 

I would rate this recipe 3.8 stars! 

Reasons: I would like to add more ingredients, I get super bored fast if my meal is just mostly meat. 

I should have soaked the rice noodles longer, they were on the crunchy side. 

I also rarely rate things above 4.5 stars because I believe that 5 is close to perfection. 

Notes: This recipe can get spicy depending on what hot pepper you use. I just diced the pepper and so every once in a while your mouth would get this burst of spiciness that was hard for my 18 month old to handle. 

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes 

(she does recommend marinating the meat so I would plan on preparing this the night before or that morning!)

Ingredients: 

• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 3.5 T sesame oil or canola oil
• 2 T honey + 1 T sugar
• 1 dash fish sauce
• 3 T vinegar + a squeeze of lime
• 5 cloves finely minced garlic
• 1 piece fresh grated ginger (1-2 T)
• 1 minced hot pepper (i.e. jalapeno, chili pepper, etc)
• 3 T hoisin sauce
• 3 T peanut butter (optional)
• 1 1/2 lbs pork cut into thin strips
• 9 oz. rice noodles
• grated carrots, chopped scallions, chopped peanuts, cilantro etc. 

For the instructions visit the blog: http://pinchofyum.com/hoisin-pork-with-rice-noodles

This recipe was delicious!! And we will be repeating it for sure!

February Week 1 Chinese Food - Black Pepper Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry

Hello there! My name is Melissa and I’m a wannabe Foodie.

For the first week’s challenge, I struggled trying to find something I wanted to make that I already had most of the ingredients on hand. I stumbled across this Black Pepper Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry recipe and thought “why not, it doesn't look so bad.” 

I read the reviews and confirmed my decision mentally.

This dish was delicious! It’s colorful and full of flavor even with the ingredients being quite simple. 

It was missing something though, I just can’t put my thumb on it. 

My husband said it was perfect and he wouldn't change anything about it, all while he was coming back for seconds.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I’d easily give this a 3.5 to 4. 

You can find the original recipe here: Black Pepper Beef and Cabbage Stir-Fry

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ready: In less than 30 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 cloves chopped garlic
• ½ pound ground beef
• ½ small head cabbage, shredded
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• ½ cup water
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat, and add oil. Sauté garlic for about 5 seconds, then add ground beef. Stir-fry until beef is evenly brown. Stir in cabbage and red pepper, and cool until vegetables are tender, and beef is fully cooked. Stir in soy sauce. Mix together cornstarch and water, and stir in. Season with pepper. Cook, stirring, until sauce has thickened. Serve with steamed rice. 

First Challenge and Our Welcome to A Cuisine Adventure! Here is the List of February's Challenge

On this blog, you're a friend. And here, being friends means we have common interests. 

It's safe to assume that one easy thing to have in common with most people is a love for food. That's why we're here really...to talk about our love for food while doing weekly "challenges" to try new things. 

Here is the list of the weekly food challenges for February:

• Feb 1 - 7: Making a Chinese Dish
• Feb 8 - 14: Incorporate Chocolate in a Meal
• Feb 15 - 21: Try Cooking with Fennel
• Feb 22 - 28: Whip Up a Packed-With-Vitamins Salad

Your goal is to cook one meal per week for the chosen challenge that week. Really, this is simple. And it's a nice way to change things up in the kitchen. No one wants the food they serve to become boring and hear "sighs" when they tell their family what's for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Right?! 

This will be fun and could get quite interesting as we move forward with this. 

After you have made your dish, you can email us (click on the hyperlink below) or reply to the post for the monthly challenge to let us know you have a dish you want to add to the blog. 
The more responses, the better. 

Get planning!

Contact Information:
Click Here: A Cuisine Adventure 
Or copy and paste the email address in your message: acuisineadventure@gmail.com