one man's ceiling
Sunday, April 22, 2007
the experiment and the menu
there are all kinds of issues in the house right now. someone is dieting and exercising, and someone should be doing likewise. someone isn't even officially a tween and beginning to show signs of eating us out of house and home. someone has had an aversion to red meat for a few years now, though just the other night ate three adult portions of ribs, and could easily becomes a vegan within a few years. and someone has gas.
health and diet considerations taken to account, i threw out the idea that we go meatless for the week. i thought i could probably pull it off in a way that wouldn't seem like such a harsh shift in our eating. i'd also like to think that in a very small way it's helping the planet, but i can't really say that was a motivating factor.
so when my zuska and i discussed this we also decided to keep the girls out of the loop, to see how long it would take them to figure it out. if i went whole hog (no pun intended) and went vegan they'd know in a heartbeat, eggs and cheese just being too hard to remove from the house without severe problems with proteins and omegas. if the girls would only eat pbj! but with starches and flours already limited to next-to-nothing the lacto-ovo option needed to be exercised.
despite a lapse early in the day -- eggs with sausage for brunch, i just totally forgot -- the rest of the day went smooth. for dinner i fried some more zucchini with a cucumber yogurt dip, adding onions and eggplant to the mix, with a main dish of spanakopita. despite being a very rachel ray recipe, i loved the spanakopita because instead of a giant pan of feta and spinach pie they are personal sized little logs, like greek egg rolls. baked. okay, maybe nothing like egg rolls, but very nice.
just to be clear, this lack of meat is really only being enforced on my zuska and i. breakfasts won't be affected as we'll all be on our smoothie routines (girls will round out with bagels or mini wheats) and for lunch one takes the hot lunch at school and the other brings her trusy ham-n-cheese or hard boiled egg (or both! hungry tween alert!) and that's fine. like i said, they won't do the pbj option so whatever gets them through the day, right?
tomorrow night is a weird hybrid salad, a sort of a meatless cobb salad with some mexican whang to it. not spicy, just the combination of avocado and cheese and beets and jicama and citrus dressing. it feels a little out-on-a-limb but i'm up for it. and i don't think the girlies will figure out what's up just yet.
by tuesday they might. i'm doing a stir fry but i'm going tofu. one girl loves it and the other is going to pout because there's no beef or chicken. and that's when the dam will break. if they ask we'll tell them, and i suspect it'll all be clear before wednesday. then the only trick will be to see if they really are hankering for some meat come this time next week. we'll see how everyone fares.
there are all kinds of issues in the house right now. someone is dieting and exercising, and someone should be doing likewise. someone isn't even officially a tween and beginning to show signs of eating us out of house and home. someone has had an aversion to red meat for a few years now, though just the other night ate three adult portions of ribs, and could easily becomes a vegan within a few years. and someone has gas.health and diet considerations taken to account, i threw out the idea that we go meatless for the week. i thought i could probably pull it off in a way that wouldn't seem like such a harsh shift in our eating. i'd also like to think that in a very small way it's helping the planet, but i can't really say that was a motivating factor.
so when my zuska and i discussed this we also decided to keep the girls out of the loop, to see how long it would take them to figure it out. if i went whole hog (no pun intended) and went vegan they'd know in a heartbeat, eggs and cheese just being too hard to remove from the house without severe problems with proteins and omegas. if the girls would only eat pbj! but with starches and flours already limited to next-to-nothing the lacto-ovo option needed to be exercised.
despite a lapse early in the day -- eggs with sausage for brunch, i just totally forgot -- the rest of the day went smooth. for dinner i fried some more zucchini with a cucumber yogurt dip, adding onions and eggplant to the mix, with a main dish of spanakopita. despite being a very rachel ray recipe, i loved the spanakopita because instead of a giant pan of feta and spinach pie they are personal sized little logs, like greek egg rolls. baked. okay, maybe nothing like egg rolls, but very nice.just to be clear, this lack of meat is really only being enforced on my zuska and i. breakfasts won't be affected as we'll all be on our smoothie routines (girls will round out with bagels or mini wheats) and for lunch one takes the hot lunch at school and the other brings her trusy ham-n-cheese or hard boiled egg (or both! hungry tween alert!) and that's fine. like i said, they won't do the pbj option so whatever gets them through the day, right?
tomorrow night is a weird hybrid salad, a sort of a meatless cobb salad with some mexican whang to it. not spicy, just the combination of avocado and cheese and beets and jicama and citrus dressing. it feels a little out-on-a-limb but i'm up for it. and i don't think the girlies will figure out what's up just yet.
by tuesday they might. i'm doing a stir fry but i'm going tofu. one girl loves it and the other is going to pout because there's no beef or chicken. and that's when the dam will break. if they ask we'll tell them, and i suspect it'll all be clear before wednesday. then the only trick will be to see if they really are hankering for some meat come this time next week. we'll see how everyone fares.
Labels: feta, greek, rachel ray, spinach, vegetarian, zucchini
¶ Sunday, April 22, 2007 0 comments
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
chicken, stuffed
there's not pix for this because (a) i made it up and (b) we ate it before i even thought about getting out the camera.
you know how in the butcher cases they have the cuts of meat and then they have the doctored up older bits of meat? you know why they do that? no, it's not because there's a vast army of people out there who do not or cannot figure out how to prep meats on their own, it's a last-ditch effort to salvage older cuts before throwing them out for a loss.
or as one old security guard named john once told me "the more they put in it, the more they don't want you to know about it." hence the origin of hot links and other spicy sausages. but i digress.
so i'm looking in the case and there's a stuffed chicken breast. it's got mushroom stuffing, all ready to pop in the oven. interesting, but my boat's not a-float. then over there they have some flank steak wrapped up in a chopped vegetable and blue cheese concoction. interesting, but not quite right...
a-ha!
chicken stuffed with feta and asparagus!
toss in the asparagus, remove from heat and let sit for 4 minutes.
drain the asparagus and rinse with cold water, you only want them slightly blanched.
lay the fillets open smooth side down. you'll need to fold them in half so if they're a little too thick or uneven in width cover them with plastic wrap and smash them flat with the bottom of a cast iron skillet. (our neighbors must love it when i cook).
mash the cheeses together in a small bowl.
use two-thirds of the cheese and divide among the inside of the fillets, nestled down the center.
nestle three to five stalks of asparagus in the cheese mix.
fold the fillet in half and place in a baking dish.
brush the olive oil on the fillets, sprinkle with salt, pepper and tarragon.
bake at 375 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes.
before they're done cooking, sprinkle the rest of the cheese mix atop the fillets and broil for about five minutes.
hot cheese burns! let it sit about five minutes out of the oven before serving.
serves four, so double up if you want seconds or leftovers for lunch the next day.
kid tested and approved!
goes great with potatoes. doesn't everything?
you know how in the butcher cases they have the cuts of meat and then they have the doctored up older bits of meat? you know why they do that? no, it's not because there's a vast army of people out there who do not or cannot figure out how to prep meats on their own, it's a last-ditch effort to salvage older cuts before throwing them out for a loss.
or as one old security guard named john once told me "the more they put in it, the more they don't want you to know about it." hence the origin of hot links and other spicy sausages. but i digress.
so i'm looking in the case and there's a stuffed chicken breast. it's got mushroom stuffing, all ready to pop in the oven. interesting, but my boat's not a-float. then over there they have some flank steak wrapped up in a chopped vegetable and blue cheese concoction. interesting, but not quite right...
a-ha!
chicken stuffed with feta and asparagus!
- 4 skinless chicken fillets, rinsed and patted dry
- 1 pound of asparagus
- 3 oz. cream cheese
- 8 oz. crumbled feta cheese (with or without herbs mixed in, your choice)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- coarse salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
toss in the asparagus, remove from heat and let sit for 4 minutes.
drain the asparagus and rinse with cold water, you only want them slightly blanched.
lay the fillets open smooth side down. you'll need to fold them in half so if they're a little too thick or uneven in width cover them with plastic wrap and smash them flat with the bottom of a cast iron skillet. (our neighbors must love it when i cook).
mash the cheeses together in a small bowl.
use two-thirds of the cheese and divide among the inside of the fillets, nestled down the center.
nestle three to five stalks of asparagus in the cheese mix.
fold the fillet in half and place in a baking dish.
brush the olive oil on the fillets, sprinkle with salt, pepper and tarragon.
bake at 375 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes.
before they're done cooking, sprinkle the rest of the cheese mix atop the fillets and broil for about five minutes.
hot cheese burns! let it sit about five minutes out of the oven before serving.
serves four, so double up if you want seconds or leftovers for lunch the next day.
kid tested and approved!
goes great with potatoes. doesn't everything?
Labels: asparagus, chicken, feta, main course, stuffed
¶ Wednesday, January 10, 2007 0 comments
