I made muffins.

Two things. Only two, because it is early and I am tired. Also, Mister Man is asleep in the swing next to me, so my time is not only precious, it is fleeting.

One.

Fiber One muffin mix is legit. The blueberries are pretty fake, but I only really like blueberries when they're fresh and not baked, so that's fine with me. Plus, it's 5g fiber per muffin. I want to eat two, but am afraid. 10g fiber in one go (um, no pun intended) is a potentially scary thing.

Which brings me to two. I am not cleaning out the catbox today, and I am not telling Hubby why.

I swear, I can't leave this cat alone with human food for 30 seconds. 

The return of the pantry meal

My fridge is pretty bare...we were going out of town for a couple days, so I didn't want to over do it with the shopping or with the cooking (aka with the leftovers).

I bought these mushroom ravioli things at the store last week, and have been trying to think of a non-cheese, non-tomato based sauce to serve with them. We had garlic and we had shallots, so i figured that was a good start...the rest I winged.

I love/hate reductions. They taste so good, but I generally get caught up doing dishes/checking email/watching whatever game Hubby's watching, and end up burning the shit out of it half of the time.

Ok, most of the time. But I watched this one like a hawk, expecting disaster, and this time it worked (yay me!). Sweet and sour and savory...it was a good mix.

Mushroom Ravioli with Garlic Balsamic Reduction
1 package mushroom ravioli (any brand)
6 cloves garlic, sliced
2 shallots, sliced
Olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 broth (I used beef)
Salt and pepper
Honey

Heat a splash of oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and shallots and sauté about 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar and broth. Let come to a boil, and reduce heat slightly to simmer.

(at this point, get your pasta cooking. Drain and set aside once it's done. )

Watch the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has started thickening and has reduced to about half the amount. Squeeze in a little honey (the better quality the vinegar, the less you'll need. I have organic but cheap vinegar and used maybe a tsp of honey), and sprinkle in a pinch of pepper and salt.

Add in drained pasta and toss gently.

Happy Baby Daddy Day!

Everyone have a nice weekend? I hope you got to spend some QT with your daddies, baby daddies, or by blissfully ignoring the holiday altogether. My dad's in Costa Rica right now (I know, his life is hard), so I didn't get to call him, but I'm taking Lil' E to visit on Thursday, so I'm thinking I'll be forgiven.

We don't really do much for holidays around here—flowers and a card are pretty much the hubby's MO, which is fine with me. But this new mama was still pretty annoyed when he totally blew off Mother's Day altogether last month. So instead of ignoring Father's Day, I decided to buck up and make him feel guilty celebrate my man.

Whatever, I made him a dinner I knew he'd like and got him a card. It's not like I bought him a gift or anything, come on.

Indian Spiced Pork Salad
1 pork tenderloin (about a lb-or you can use boneless chops)
1 8oz container greek yogurt
About 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper (I used white)
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 piece ginger (about 3/4 inch long) peeled and minced
Good shake red chile flakes (1/2 tsp?)
3 celery stalks, diced
1/4 red onion, diced
About a cup of grapes, halved (I used green)
1/2 cup mango chutney
About 1/3 cup light mayo
Juice from half a lemon
Romaine, to serve
Naan bread (I like garlic Naan-check Trader Joes or Fresh & Easy)

In large ziplock, combine yogurt, S&P, garlic, ginger and chile flakes. Seal, and mush together until well combined. Add pork, reseal, and mush around some more until it's well coated. Stick in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

When marinated, heat grill (indoor or outdoor) to medium high. Remove pork from bag and throw away the rest. Cook tenderloin about 6 minutes, roll over, and cook another 6 minutes on each additional side (4 sides total), or until done. Let sit about 10 minutes, then slice. Let cool some more, then pull apart into bite sized pieces and place in large bowl. Add in remaining ingredients (through lemon), and toss gently. Stick back in the fridge for a half hour or more to chill.

Serve over romaine leaves with warm bread. I also served with pilau, which rarely works out well for me, so I guess I should give yesterday's recipe, too:

Pilau
Olive Oil
Half an onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
2 bay leaves
5 cardamon pods
About 1/4 of a cinnamon stick
2 tsp curry powder
1 heaping tsp cumin
1 cup basmati rice, rinsed well and drained
2 cups chicken broth

Heat a swirl of olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion, garlic and ginger, and saute a few minutes until onion has softened. Stir in bay leaves, cardamon, cinnamon, curry and cumin. Saute another minutes, then stir in rice. Saute one minute more, then add broth. When it comes to aboil, reduce to simmer and cover. Cook 15 minutes, and leave covered until ready to eat. Remove pods, cinnamon, and leaves before serving.

I don't always plan ahead, but when I do, I prefer something tasty.

For the negative three of you who don't know...I had a baby in February. And I don't know how many times I can use E as an excuse for not cooking/posting, but I'm going to milk it for as long as humanly possible. Because when I DO cook, it's more likely than not of the of the "Holy shit, how is Jeopardy already on? WTF are we going to eat?" variety.

What I need to do is plan ahead and make weekly meal plans. When I do, it works out, but it's so much easier said than done. This is from one of those magical days where I planned ahead—we had a cold greek pasta salad from somewhere I honestly can't recall (Costco, maybe??), so I thought I'd try and recreate it as a hot main entree. A list was made, E and I went shopping (he's great as long I narrate the shopping trip to him as we go...once we hit the check out line, however, he loses it and turns into Mr. Crankypants. The second I pay and wheel the cart out, however, he's his usual sweet, babbling, giggly self. He loves the "let's make strangers think my mom mistreats me" act. He thinks it's hilarious.)

Anyway, the plan worked. I'm still not eating much dairy, so I went without the feta and I didn't miss it at all. Hubby was a fan of it both ways.

Greek Pasta
One jar marinated artichoke hearts, undrained
2 small chicken breasts, cut in bite sized pieces
1 package cherry tomatoes, halved
Half a small red onion, halved and sliced
Olive oil
Thyme
Basil
Oregano
Balsamic vinegar
Pasta
Herbed feta (optional)

Heat oven to 425. Combine tomatoes and onion in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and a splash of balsamic. Toss to coat. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through.

While the tomatoes roast, cook the pasta. Drain and return to pan with a bit of olive oil or cooking spray.

Sprinkle chicken with thyme, basil, oregano and salt. Heat a tbsp or so of olive oil on medium high, add chicken and sauté until cooked through. Add artichoke hearts and tomato mixture, cook another couple of minutes til hot. Pour into pasta and combine gently.
Top with herbed feta to serve.