Week Two Recipes!

Week two is underway and I’m going to try and be better about documenting my recipes as I go, but we’ll see what happens. This is the week where Peter will be home for dinners, so I get to experiment a little more.

Sunday was a lot of fun! I didn’t make a big batch of meals for the week, but instead made some meals and snacks for the day.

It’s football season, and who doesn’t like chips and wings? Well, to satisfy those cravings, I made kale chips and baked chicken wings – YUM! The wings may just be one of the most restaurant-tasting, delightful foods I’ve made. Also, who doesn’t like fries? For dinner, I made sautéed kale and cumin-garlic-parmesan fries. I wanted to be adventurous and it paid off! What didn’t work out so well? My flourless, semi-awkward peanut butter cookies. Peter said he liked them; I thought they needed some improvement but this was a recipe I made up so that was kind of fun.

I apologize in advance for my lack of proper measurements…

Salt and Vinegar Kale Chips

· Bunch of fresh kale – I used about half of the bunch and used the other half later

· Sea salt, to taste

· 1 tbsp vinegar

Directions:

· Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

· Tear kale from the ‘rib’ of the stalk; wash and pat dry

· Place kale on a pan lined with aluminum foil

· Spray kale with non-stick spray (Note: You can also drizzle with olive oil. I don’t have an olive oil mister which I think would make using olive oil in this case easier.)

· Sprinkle with sea salt

· Using a brush, drizzle with vinegar

· Bake approximately 10 to 15 minutes until kale looks wilted and crunchy (Note: The vinegar will make the kale a little soggy though it tastes delicious!)

Spicy Baked Chicken Wings

· From bag of chicken wings, I used 8 for the spicy wings but you can use more; bag yielded 20 wings

· Salt and pepper, to taste

· About ¼ cup of hot sauce (I used Frank’s Red Hot)

Directions:

· Preheat oven to 425 degrees

· Rinse wings in cold water

· Lay on paper towels and pat dry

· Season with salt and pepper

· Place wings in a large bag

· Pour hot sauce in bag

· Marinate in fridge for 2 hours

· Bake for 25 minutes, flip, bake another 10 minutes

· Broil for 5 minutes on high

Parmesan-Garlic Baked Chicken Wings (adapted from Steamy Kitchen)

· I used about 12 chicken wings from the bag that I purchased

· 3 tsp dried oregano

· 3 tsp fresh rosemary

· 1 ½ tsp cumin

· 3 tsp kosher salt

· 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

· 2 garlic cloves, minced

· ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

· ½ tsp season all

**Note: The recipe called for 1 tsp oregano, rosemary, cumin, salt but I used a lot of seasoning as a rub for the chicken which I think made them extra yummy.**

Directions:

· Preheat oven to 425 degrees

· Mix rosemary, cumin, oregano and salt

· Rinse chicken wings in cold water. Lay on power towel and pat dry

· Rub rosemary, cumin, oregano and salt mix on both sides of the chicken

· Bake on foil-lined cookie sheet for 25 minutes, turn wings over and bake for another 10 minutes

· Broil on high for 5 minutes

· Mix oil, garlic, season all and parmesan cheese

· Place cooked wings in a large baggie

· Pour in oil, garlic, season all and parmesan cheese mixture

· Toss to coat

**Note: The wings called for a Dijon mustard/blue cheese dip using 1 cup of blue cheese dressing with 1 to 2 tsp of Dijon mustard. I may try this next time, though the wings are absolutely delicious on their own!**

Sautéed Kale

· ¼ cup onions, diced

· 1 large garlic clove

· ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil

· I can’t believe it’s not butter spray

· 1 tbsp vinegar

· ½ bunch of kale

· 1/3 cup of water

· Kosher salt, to taste

Directions:

· Tear kale from rib, rinse

· Cook onion and garlic in a pan

· Add kale to onion and garlic

· Add water and vinegar

· Cook on medium-high for approximately 7 to 9 minutes until soft

Cumin-Garlic-Parmesan Butternut Squash

· 1 – butternut squash

· 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

· Kosher salt, to taste

· Cumin, to taste

· Garlic powder, to taste

· Approximately ¼ cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

· Cut off top of butternut squash and cut off round bottom

· Using the long, lengthy part of squash, peel the squash

· Cut into ‘fry’ strips

· Place strips in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil

· Season, to taste, with cumin, garlic powder, kosher salt and parmesan cheese (I’d say I probably used about ½ to 1 tablespoon of cumin, garlic powder and kosher salt?)

· Toss butternut squash fries with tongs and cover with aluminum foil

· Refrigerate for approximately one hour

· Preheat oven to 400 degrees

· Bake for 15 minutes, flip, bake another 10 minutes

· Broil on high for 5 minutes

**Note: YUM. Will make sautéed kale and fancy butternut squash fries again asap. Sometimes my experiments work out well.**

And for the experiment that didn’t turn out so well…

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

· 1 cup peanut butter (I happened to have ‘crunchy’ on hand)

· 1/8 tsp baking powder

· 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

· 1/8 tsp nutmeg

· 1/8 tsp cinnamon

· ½ tbsp cocoa powder

· 1 tbsp Splenda brown sugar

· ¼ cup Splenda granulated sugar

· ¼ cup egg substitute

· Pinch of salt

Directions:

· Preheat oven to 350 degrees

· Mix all ingredients together

· Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil

· Roll into approximately 16 peanut butter cookie balls

· Bake for 10 minutes

I’m not sure if it was the baking powder, the cocoa or what, but these just didn’t make me happy. I tried these again with just creamy peanut butter, Splenda, egg and baking powder and liked them MUCH more than the first batch. Also? If you let them sit for 10-15 minutes they taste better.

On the menu for the rest of the week? Brown sugar salmon, parmesan asparagus, spaghetti bake with tofu noodles, meat loaf, South Beach Diet mashed ‘potatoes’ aka cauliflower and meat pizza! Stay tuned for more recipes!