Orzo Salad with Kalamata Olives, Peppers and Feta

This one is very similar to the Greek Couscous Salad I often throw together.  However, I don't think I'll go back to the couscous.  The orzo works so much better in something like this.  I could live on it...so yummy!

-1 tsp salt
-2 cups orzo (I used an entire 1 pound box of orzo)
-1 red bell pepper, diced (I only had red, green & orange peppers so I used those)
-1 yellow bell pepper, diced
-6 oounces feta cheese, crumbled (I've stated this before but I LOVE FETA.  Therefore, I used a 10 ounce container!)
-1 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
-4 green onions, thinly sliced
**I also added in a cup of halved grape tomatoes
Dressing:
-6 tablespoons olive oil
-2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice (it's the juice of half a large lemon)
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1/4 cup flat leaf parlsey, chopped
-3/4 tsp salt
-1 tsp pepper

Cook orzo in salted water until al dente ( 8-10 minutes). Drain and rinse with cold water. Transfer to a large bowl and toss with olive oil. Add bell peppers, cheese, olives, and green onions.

To make dressing: in a small bowl, whisk olive oil, lemon juice, garlic parsley, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
Add dressing to salad and toss gently to combine. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Remove from refrigerator for 30 min prior to serving.

From the kitchen of Megan Guttman

Tuna Casserole

I know some people don't care for tuna casserole, but we love it.  My family devours it when I make it and leftovers don't last long in our home. I've recently been asked for my recipe by a couple different peeps so thought I'd post it on the blog.  This is a recipe that I usually just eyeball and I throw things in as I go along making it a little different every time.  However, last time I made it, I jotted down the general measurements.  This recipe reminds me of my childhood.  We ate a lot of tuna casserole growing up!

-6 ounces egg noodles, cooked, rinsed and drained (about half a bag)
-1/2-3/4 cup chopped celery
-1/2 cup chopped onion
-1 stick margarine, divided
-8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms or one can of mushrooms, drained
-12 ounce can solid white albacore tuna (or canned chicken works too)
-1 can mushroom soup
-1-1 1/2 cup milk
-2 cups shredded cheese (co jack or cheddar works best)
-1-1/12 sleeves of Ritz crackers, crushed (about 35-50 crackers)
-salt and pepper

Saute celery, onion and mushrooms in a 1/2 stick of margarine until tender.  Meanwhile, combine noodles, tuna, soup, milk, and cheese together.  I add in enough milk to make the consistency a little soupy.  Add in onions, celery and mushrooms along with melted margarine.  Gently mix and then smooth into a casserole dish.  Melt the second 1/2 stick of margarine and combine with the crushed Ritz crackers.  Layer the cracker crumbs over the noodle mixture.  Bake (uncovered) for 20-30 minutes at 375 degrees or until it starts to bubble.
*A bag of frozen mixed veggies cooks up great in here as well!  Just stir them into with your noodle mixture.

Salsa Meatloaf

We all love meatloaf in this house.  However, I am horrible at making it!  I can get it to taste pretty good, it just usually falls apart.  I'm not great about following recipes so that's probably my problem (that and I always try to make it with ground turkey which never turns out that great).  I recently tried my friend's recipe for this salsa meatloaf...I will never make anything different.  It was super tasty.  The Segal boys all gave it glowing reviews!

-1 pound ground round (I used the leanest ground beef)
-1 cup salsa, divided (medium to hot)
-2/3 cup soft whole wheat breadcrumbs (I just use the regular Italian seasoned breadcrumbs in my pantry)
-1 egg 
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage (I never have this so I use mixed Italian seasoning)
-1/4 teaspoon pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Shape mixture into a 6x4 inch loaf and place on a rack coated with cooking spray (I skipped this part). Place rack in roasting pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 55 mins. Brush/pour remaining 1/2 cup salsa over loaf, and bake 5 additional minutes (optional). Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

Calories 126
Carbohydrates 4.5g
Fiber 1g Fat 3.4g
Cholesterol 43mg
Calcium 28mg
Protein 18.8
Sodium 282mg
Iron 2mg

From the kitchen of Megan Guttman.

Chicken and Barley Soup

While my grandma and I were chatting on the phone a few weeks ago, she mentioned that she was making beef and barley soup.  I realized that I've never cooked with barley before and decided to pick some up at the store.  I wanted to create something using chicken instead of beef.  This is what I pulled together from my pantry.  The result was yummy!

-3 cups chicken, cut into bite sized  pieces
-Chopped onion, about 1/2 of a medium onion
-Garlic, about 1 clove, chopped
-1/2-1 cup medium barley, uncooked
-1 can roasted tomatoes, chopped (roasted red peppers would be great too!)
-A couple stalks of celery, chopped
-1 bay leaf
-1/2-1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning (or you just use basil or oregano if you don't have it mixed)
-Can of lima beans, rinsed (you could also use butter beans)
-8 cups of chicken broth (I used low sodium)
-2-4 cans of water
-1 package of frozen mixed veggies (I used the one with corn, peas, green beans and carrots)

In a stock pot, brown chicken in a little oil.  Add in onion and garlic and cook until tender.  Stir in remaining ingredients except for the frozen veggies.  Simmer for about an hour or so.  Add in your frozen veg and cook for about 10 more minutes.  Don't forget to fish out your bay leaf before serving.  Perfect with some buttered crusty bread for dipping.  All the boys LOVED it!  We ate every last drop. 

Has anyone ever cooked with quinoa?  I finally stocked some in my pantry and am wondering what I can do with it.  Is it good in soup?

Feast on the Cheap

A friend recommended this website.  I love anything "on the cheap" so I love this site.  Check it out here...

Feast on the Cheap

Here's just one of their recipes that I can't wait to try....

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Homemade Barbeque Sauce and Coleslaw

Makes 6-7 Sandwiches

Ingredients for My Mom’s Traditional Coleslaw:
-1 cup Lo-fat Mayonnaise - stock
-2/3 cup Buttermilk (freeze the leftover) – $0.49
-1/3 cup to 2/3 cup sugar (I use 2/3 cup) - stock
-4 Tablespoons white vinegar (I sometimes use cider vinegar instead) - stock
-1 teaspoon salt – stock
-Freshly ground black pepper – stock
-2 teaspoons celery seeds - stock
-2- 16 oz. packages cole slaw mix* – $3.98
-1 bunch Scallions, chopped, using white and green parts – $0.69

*Tip: Alternatively, to cut the cost if time isn’t a factor, shred 2 lbs. white or green cabbage and 4 carrots

Total Assuming Stocked Pantry: $5.16
Total Per Serving (makes 10): $0.51


Coleslaw Directions:
1. Whisk together the first 7 ingredients.
2. Add the shredded cabbage and carrots or cole slaw mix with the scallions, tossing well to combine.
3. Refrigerate at least 4 hours to allow the flavors to mellow.
4. Stir well before serving.

Ingredients for the Barbeque Sauce:
-1 8-oz can tomato sauce – $0.89
-1 6-oz can tomato paste – $0.99
-2 heaping Tablespoons brown sugar – stock
-2 Tablespoons honey – stock
-4 teaspoons cider vinegar – stock
-2 Tablespoons olive oil- stock
-3 teaspoons minced garlic – stock
-4 Tablespoons minced onion – stock
-1 teaspoon chili powder – stock
-2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce – stock
-1 teaspoon dry mustard – stock
-1 teaspoon cayenne – stock
-fresh ground pepper – stock

Total assuming “stocked” kitchen: $1.88 (yields about 1.5 cups)

Directions for BBQ Sauce:
1. In a very large saute pan, saute minced onion and garlic in olive oil over high heat until the onion turns opaque. Stir consistently to keep the onion from burning.
2. Add remaining ingredients over medium-high heat and bring to a quick boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes stirring occasionally to keep the sauce from burning.
3. After sauce has thickened (it will be more of a deep red than a traditional bottled brown color) remove from heat and set aside.

Grilled Feta, Tomato & Carmelized Onion Sandwhiches

This is not your standard grilled cheese sandwhich but rather a little taste of heaven.  On our drive back from Florida last summer, we stopped in Baton Rouge to meet up with my cousin who lives there.  She took us to a little place called Zoe's Kitchen for lunch where I had the most amazing chicken sandwhich.  It was obviously good if I'm still thinking about it almost a year later.  That sandwhich is what inspired me to jazz up my standard grilled cheese sandwhiches.  Hope you enjoy as much as I did.

-Rustic bread, sliced (think italian, french, focaccia, ciabatta, etc.)
-Block of feta, sliced (about 1/4 inch thick)
-Tomatoes, thinly sliced
-Carmelized onions (see below if you need help with this one)
-Kalamata olives (optional)
-Margarine or butter
-Sliced chicken breast, cooked (optional)

Butter your bread and lay face down in a hot pan (medium heat).  Layer with feta, tomato, onions (and chicken if you have it).  Top with another piece of buttered bread.  Cook as you would and other grilled cheese sandwhich.  When it's time to flip, do so carefully.  We always eat grilled cheese with some tomato herb soup & pastina and this sandwhich is no exception.   The kalamatas don't really go in the sandwhich but go hand in hand with feta for me so I always serve them on the side!

In case you've never carmelized onions before, here's what you need to do...

-Several medium or large onions, yellow, white, or red
-Olive oil
-Butter (optional)
-Salt
-Sugar (optional)

Peel and slice onions to desired thickness.  I slice mine pretty thin.

Coat the bottom of the a saute pan with olive oil, or a mixture of olive oil and butter (about 1 teaspoon per onion). Heat the pan on medium high heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the onion slices and stir to coat the onions with the oil. Spread the onions out evenly over the pan and let cook, stirring occasionally. After 10 minutes, sprinkle some salt over the onions.  If you want, you can add some sugar to help with the caramelization process. (I add about 1-1.5 teaspoons for about 2 large onions).

These are the onions after 10 minutes.

Let cook for 30-40 minutes more, stirring every few minutes. Store refrigerated for several days in an air-tight container.

Onions after 40 minutes.  YUM!  I could eat them just like this.

Peanut Butter Playdough

We were introduced to peanut butter playdough at a friends house last weekend.  The boys thought it was tons of fun to play with the dough and then lick their fingers (or even sneak a bite of the playdough).  It wasn't as sticky as I was expecting it to be. 

-1 cup peanut butter

- 1/2 cup honey

- 2 cups powdered sugar

Mix ingredients in a bowl and you’re done! This is most easily accomplished with your hands.  Store in an airtight container or plastic baggie with air sucked out of the bag. (Quick tip: Spray your 1/2 cup with oil before measuring your honey and the honey will pour much easier.)

From the kitchen of Megan Guttman.