HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hey everyone!

Just a quick check in. Still trying to get a routine down. I have some changes coming to the blog over the next couple of weeks.

I am starting the year at 183. I did beat Bob on the December weight-loss challenge, which allowed me to pocket $100 towards my summer travels. I would really like to make a trip to Colorado but I know some weight has to come off if I'm to deal with an altitude I've not been in since the 1980s.

I've also become enamored with a show on Food Network called The Kitchen. One topic that has me intrigued is 'Meatless Monday'.. apparently a hot trend.

So stay tuned...
In the mean time, share your 2016 plans for Enjoying the Journey!

THE WEEK AHEAD

I found this on MorgueFile and thought how pretty! I've seen places like this through the Ozarks and Virginia.

Autumn is slipping away here in the Ozarks and thoughts turn to comfort foods. Soups mostly for me, but I'm also looking ahead to the holiday baking. I'm not a big cookie person but when Christmas time approaches, I want to bake up a storm and I have a few favorites that I only make during the holidays... treats.

If you do not know, I am a writer by trade. My job as a freelancer is what has kept me away from this blog. I see I have three of you who visit each morning and I thank you. I am blessed.

So over the remaining weeks of 2015 I will be posting here and there. Right now I am taking part in the annual National Novel Writing Month Challenge. This is my 9th year. So when I'm not doing the day job of promoting musical artists and working the freelance gig, I am working on my latest novel... the 2nd in my Branson trilogy.


For the week ahead I will be striving to stay on task. Money is a great motivator. Bob is off on the boat and we are on our weight loss challenge. Except we have decided to up the anty... Instead of the usual $100 to the winner, we've decided to roll over the $100 neither of us won the last time out. So this time the pot is worth $200! That would look nice in my travel money bank for 2016.

His biggest challenge is while he does not have an official cook on the boat, he does have a deck hand who likes to cook - from scratch! LOL Bob said he will limit his portions. Last time he had a deck hand who liked to cook, he gained #6.

I have it a little easier. I eat lots of stir fry while he's gone and plenty of protein. After a recent Glucose reading scare I'm really trying to watch my carbs.

So there you have it. Bear with me and I'll get things back on track.
Love the Journey!
Kelly

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Burrito Bowls

Today's recipes is one of the easiest to make. Very filling, delicious and had a variety of ways you can serve this. 

Another Pinterest recipe which came from iheartnaptime  One Pot Burrito Bowls is like 7-layer burriot in a bowl and is a keeper in my Pinterest Recipes book. 

Two ingredients her recipe calls for that I left out of mine were chicken stock and rice. While the rice would stretch the dish and be more filling, I opted out of the starch and went straight for vegie. Also, if you leave these two items out plus the ground bee, this makes a great vegan recipe.

I used twice as much ground beef because I'm just a protein lover. You can serve this in a bowl, use it as a burrito filling, lettuce boats or scoop chips. Great Football Party dish!

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Shrimp Tacos

While I had the shrimp out I thought I'd double up on recipes and meals. I saved out about 20 of the shrimp from the package and just tossed them in a teflon pan with a little butter-flavored olive oil (Spritzed) and a couple Tablespoons of Taco Seasoning. I thought I might have used too much seasoning but was pleasantly surprised.

I spread a bit of sour cream on the inside of each Spelt Tortilla added chopped Romain Lettuce. I divided the shrimp up between the two shells and sprinkled a bit of fancy shredded seasoned cheese on each. Very tasty. Also very quick. 

What's on your menu? Share a link to your favorite recipe.

Enjoy the Journey!

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Shrimp Salad

Another Pinterest discovered recipe for you but this one I modified ahead of time. Due in part to not having a couple of ingredients and part because they are seasonings I use in almost anything.

The Quick and Easy Shrimp Salad recipe came from Erren's Kitchen.

Erren did choose to use fresh shrimp, which she prepared because they tend to have a bit more 'crunch' to them as opposed to the precooked/ thawed version. Due to the fact that I waited too long to prepare this and was past dinner time, I opted for the quick thaw of the pre-cooked. The cat was happy as he always gets a shrimp for his very own :-D  She also used fresh Dill, Mustard Powder and lemon juice. I am not a fan of lemon juice on ANY seafood so I skipped that one. I didn't have fresh Dill but did have dried and no mustard powder. But I did use Onion powder and Seasoning Salt.

Her recipe called for #2 of shrimp. I had a 12 oz bag, which since I was only cooking for one, I divided the package between to meals/ blog posts.

I think I got a bit heavy on the mayo. I've tasted the final product and it's okay - just a bit over mayo'd.. which I expected. I've covered the dish and put it in the fridge for the flavors to meld and that will be lunch tomorrow. (this post was written and scheduled on 7/13/15)

I may wind up scraping part of the mayo out of the way and plan to either put in Romain Lettuce boats or eat by itself. 

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Crock Pot Broccoli Beef

A couple weeks ago I tried the Crockpot Broccoli Beef recipe from Just A Pinch that I found on Pinterest. While I need to make some adjustments to this recipe, I did like the concept over all. For one, I could not get the sauce to thicken up until I'd separate the juice from the rest of the goodies. However, by the time I'd made that move, everything was cooked too much. I also don't think the beef needs to cook as long (6-8 hrs on low) since I sliced mine much thinner. I could do this in 4 hours easy.

Here's what we started with:

This chuck roast was just under #2. I keep chuck/ pot roasts on hand as pot roast is one of Bob's favorite meals.. and very easy for me to do on a busy office day. 

One thing to keep in mind when slicing any meat. Always cut across the grain. If you cut with the grain, you are going to wind up with long pieces hard to chew. Here's an example:

Notice the piece on the right is cut with the grain. Long strips that will be difficult to bite unless you cook them beyond recognition. The slices on the right were cut cross-grain. These pieces will be tender. If you are not sure how a grain is running, cut a slice and see. Then you can rotate the cut if necessary and slice the other direction.  

This is what I wound up with:

In the crockpot with the recommended additions (see recipe at Just A Pinch).

As I said, slicing thin would have given me a cooking time of 4 hours before adding the broccoli. I'm also thinking next time I will quick steam the broccoli while I'm thickening the sauce then toss everything together. I realize this kind of defeats the purpose of the whole crock pot thing but keep in mind, the meat cooking in the juice will be very flavorful and slowcooking meat is usually the best way to get a tender morsel. Making the sauce and steaming the broccoli only takes five minutes at best and if you are serving over rice, you are going to take time to cook that anyway... so no real time inconvenience at all to do this in layers.

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Pork Steaks with Stuffing

While this might not be the most appetizing picture, trust me.. Pork Steaks with stuffing in the crockpot tasted rich, gooey, yummy.

I needed something that would feed four - 6 of us rather inexpensively. I probably could have done a half recipe and been fine but when Bob's home, I overcook so I have left overs in the freezer for when he's gone. This was also not so much on the new eating plan but every once in awhile you need the comfort food.

I took this version from a Pinterest recipe for Chicken and Stuffing in the crockpot but used pork steaks with beef Stove Top stuffing instead. The recipe is on isavea2z site. The recipe calls for green beans but I omitted them from the crock pot and served them on the side.

For now... I started by browning the pork steaks in the skillet. I just seasoned them with a bit of Lawry's Seasoning Salt and lightly peppered (Bob is not a fan of pepper so I use it sparingly then add more to my personal serving)

Then I made the sauce. This picture looks like a cream sauce but it is not. The ingredients are simply Cream of Chicken Soup and Sour Cream. 

Then I layered everything into the crockpot. I started by spraying the inside of the crock with a butter flavored olive oil from my Pampered Chef oil mister. I never thought I'd want one of these but would be so lost without the tool now. Of course they no longer have it now but I did find one similar at The Kitchen Store (for about 1/2 the price) that I use in my art journals for misting water on canvas.

I put some of the sauce in the bottom then a layer of the pork steaks, topped with some of the dry stuffing mix (DO NOT make the stuffing. Use it straight from the package) 

Topped with sauce then continued the layering process. My final layer was stuffing mix and sauce:

Put the lid on the crock pot and let it cook on low - 4-5 hours. You'll know dinner is ready when the contents look like the first picture. I'll put the picture here, too. Notice how everything has pulled away from the sides.

All I had to do was make a vegetable and dinner was served. Clean up is easy!

Even with all that cooked on goodness, When you've taken everything out of the crock, fill it with water, put the lid back in place and let steam on low over night. In the morning, your crockpot will wash up easily or go into the dishwasher. No more scrubbing and scraping!