Chicken Panini

My cat is sick, again. I'm worried and upset that she is sick again. Sigh. I thought things were getting better. I guess not.

Book: Still on Stephen King's The Stand.

iTunes: Method Man - I'll be there for you/You're all I need to get by. Love this song.

Pandora: Killswitch Engage - The End of Heartache. Such a great song. This song just speaks to me every time that I hear it.

Quote: The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. - William James 

Ingredients:

1. 6oz sliced low-fat swill
2. 4oz sliced reduced-sodium black forest deli ham
3. 4oz sliced reduced-sodium deli chicken breast
4. 4 whole wheat rolls (12oz total), sliced and gutted
5. 1/2 cup marinara sauce, heated.

Servings: 4
Nutrition: 300 cal, 29g pro, 34g carb, 5g fiber, 6g fat, 2g sat fat, 872mg sodium

Directions:

1. Heat lightly oiled grill or panini press to medium heat (or use a grill pan).
• I used the George Foreman Grill and oiled the bread instead of the pan.
2. Divide cheese, ham and chicken envenly among rolls, starting and ending with cheese.
• The chicken was home made and I ended shredding it for no reason other than that it seemed like a good idea at the time.
3. Close sandwiches and girll, flipping and pressing them with spatula if necessary, until golden brown on both sides and cheese is melted, about 5 minutes total.
• I didn't have to wait too long because the George Foreman grill  cooked both sides evenly.
4. Halve sandwiches and serve with Marinara sauce for dipping.

• This was really good. Something quick if you buy the chicken from the deli or you already have some cooked chicken leftovers.

Cheesecake Tart

Today is about getting my mind in order. I must organize my goals and try to accomplish what I can in a timely fashion and also create a budget to be able to have fun and not worry I'm not saving anything. There is so much I want to do but I am unable to due to lack funds or organization.

I had many problems making this cheesecake tart. One of the main problems was that my niece is over and she requires so much attention. It was so hard to be able to make this and make sure she wasn't destroying the house or herself.

Book: Still on The Stand by Stephen King. I think I have about 300 pages left or so. I hope to be done by this week or so.

iTunes: Drake - Karaoke.

Pandora: Leonard Cohen - Chelsea Hotel No. 2

Quote of the Day: Intense love does not measure, it just gives. - Mother Teresa

Ingredients:

1. 4 tbsp apricot jelly
2. 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3. 3 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
4. 1 cup fat free plain Greek yogurt
5. 1/3 cup turbinado sugar
6. 3 tbsp cornstarch
7. 2 Tbsp lime or lemon juice
8. 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
9. 3 cups fruit, such as raspberries or blueberries.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat 10" pie plate with cooking spray. Melt 3 tablespoons of the jelly in small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat, add crumbs, and mix well. Press onto bottom and up sides of pie plate to make crust.

• We had not cooking spray. I don't know where it went so I used regular oil. I used the food processor to turn the Graham crackers into crumbs. No problems here.


2. Place ricotta in a bowl of food processor and blend until very smooth. Add yogurt, sugar, cornstarch, lime juice, and vanilla extract. Process 30 seconds, or until well mixed. Pour into prepared crust.
• This is when things went hazy. My niece was running in and out of the kitchen for some reason. She was just being a pain. Then the ricotta wasn't blending, I had to do it by hand and I forgot to add the vanilla extract. A huge fail on my part but I was highly annoyed with my niece and mom at this point.

3. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on rack 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 3 hours. Just before serving, melt remaining jelly in small microwavable bowl. Arrange fruit on top of cheesecake. Brush fruit with melted Jelly.
• It tastes okay but I feel like it really needed the vanilla extract. You could tell something was missing. Definitely needs to be remade and hopefully with better equipment to make the ricotta cheese come out smooth. I think my mom said she would buy something to help me make it smooth.

Not sure what is next but I hope its good.

Crispy Chicken Salad

I guess the hurricane alert is over. Today was just super windy, with little or no rain. Not sure if trees in my area have fallen but that's because I haven't left the house. Good thing nothing happened to my home, though there are people complaining about the lack of inactivity. Isn't it better to be safe than sorry?

Book: The Stand by Stephen King. Haven't read much today.

iTunes: You've got the Love - Florence and the Machine. Such a great song about how God will lift her through all the bad times. Well at least to me it sounds like its about God.

Pandora: Main title- from the soundtrack to The Last of the Mohican's. Great movie.

Quote: One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Ingredients:

1. 4 thin-sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1lb total)
2. 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
3. 2 oz sliced reduced-sodium black forest deli ham
4. 2 oz sliced low-fat Swiss cheese
5. 1 lg egg white, beaten
6. 1 cup panko bread crumbs
7. 4 cup baby arugula (about 4 oz)
8. 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
9. 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Servings: 4
Nutrition: (per servings) 228 Cal, 34g pro, 11g carb, 1g fiber, 4.5g fat, 1g sat fat, 334 mg sodium

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425 F. Lightly oil baking sheet.
• No problems here.
2. Season chicken with 1/4 teaspoon pepper and evenly distribute ham and cheese on top. Beginning with a short side, roll up breasts, securing with wooden picks.

• I washed the chicken and then seasoned with black pepper. The ham still tasted a bit salty and I am left wondering if he really did give me something in low sodium. At first I worried that the toothpicks wouldn't be strong enough to cut through but they were.

3. Put egg white and Panko in separate shallow bowls. Dip chicken in egg and then panka to coat. Put on prepared pan.
• Threw out the yolk of the egg. I wasn't sure what to do with it.

4. Bake, turning once, until golden brown and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.
• It was so hot the inside of the oven, my mother had to help me turn it.

5. Remove wooden picks and cut chicken into slices. Serve on a bed of arugula with tomatoes and squeeze with lemon.
• There were two toothpicks I had trouble locating but I got them all out. The arugula with just tomatoes and lemon juice was a bit weird.

I don't like the mix of chicken with ham and cheese. It did not taste good to me, but my parents loved it. Though they did not like the arugula too much.

Next meal will be a cheesecake tart.

Bison Burgers!

Hurricane warning for us. So far not much has happened aside from some rain and lots, LOTS of humidity. Hopefully it just rains with just thunder and lighting. At least to get rid of this humidity. It's just giving me a headache.

Some days I'm good on other days I feel incredibly blue. But I think they are lessening. I just wish for good things to come my way.

Book: The Stand by Stephen King. I am half way through. It's his uncut version. Some parts I wish were left out but I love reading the detailed background on the main characters.

iTunes: The egg and You from the Cowboy Bebop anime. There is something about the beginning of the song that makes me think of Charlie Brown. It's the piano part.

Pandora: Don't Stop Dancing - Kaskade. This could be a message from life or the universe telling me I can't stop dancing. Better things are on their way. Such an uplifting song. I love having songs on shuffle because the randomness could be a message to uplift or to bring my attention to something. Or I could be going crazy.

Quote: Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. - Theodore Roosevelt. Great quote for these times.

Ingredients:

1. 1lb ground bison or buffalo, preferably grass fed.
2. 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3. 6 Tbsp hot pepper jelly
4. 4 thin slices 2% milk cheddar (1 oz total)
5. 3 tomatoes sliced

Servings: 4
Nutrition: (per serving) 254 Cal, 25g pro, 18g carb, 1g fiber, 9.5g fat, 4g sat fat, 217mg sodium

Directions:

1. Combine bison, Worcestershire, and 2 tablespoons of the jelly. Form into 4 equal (3 1/2 diameter) patties.

• I used buffalo meat, which was a bit pricey also a bit hard to find. It seems that all they sell around where I live is chicken, pork and cow. I don't think I've seen Lamb but I could be wrong. The meat we bought said that it was enough for three burgers, which was perfect because it's just my parents and me eating. Also, I did not find hot pepper jelly so I got hot sauce. Not sure if it was a good substitute but it's all I had. I only used a little but not the required amount. I think I should have used more because it was evenly distributed the spiciness. The piece I had burned lightly. I need to learn how to season this to make sure it covers the whole thing and is evenly distributed.

2. Heat lightly oiled grill to medium heat. Grill burgers 4 minutes, flip and top with cheese. Grill 3 to 4 minutes longer for medium-rare. Let burgers stand 5 minutes.
• The grill I used was a small George Foreman Grill. It could hold two burgers at most but I put one in the center and made them one by one.



Kind of nasty looking.

3. Serve burgers with tomatoes and remaining 4 tablespoons jelly.
• I served the burger with one slice of cheese and one thick slice of tomato on wheat bread burger buns. Not sure if I'm supposed to put more slices of tomatoes into but I didn't. My parents liked it, my mom, though, wished her piece was spicier. My was perfect, though I added ketchup because I love ketchup on my burgers.

 We ate it with Caesar salad, an odd combination, though the Caesar salad didn't taste as good as it usually does. It made me kind of sad. But I enjoyed the hot sauce taste of my burger, though it needed to be spread to the other two pieces. Until next time...

Bow-Tie Pasta with Spinach, Tomatoes & Olives

New month, I think I'll keep the color for now. I haven't had much of a chance to enjoy it. I really am feeling this shade of orange. Though might change it to a darker shade or something. It has been a terrible month so far. My sister in the hospital and then my cat got sick and I'm still dealing with my sadness. It's just getting harder and harder to keep on smiling.

Book: The Stand by Stephen King. It's the complete and uncut version. This is going to take me a while to get through.

iTunes: Shoots and Ladders - Korn. Love this song.

Pandora: Group Four - Massive Attack

Quote: He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. - Muhammad Ali

Ingredients:

1. 12oz bow-tie pasta
2. 2 Tbsp olive oil
3. 2 Cloves garlic, finely chopped
4. 2 cups chopped fresh or canned tomatoes
5. 2 cups packed (2oz) baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped
6. 2 Tbsp lemon juice, preferably freshly squeezed
7. 2 Tbsp sliced Kalamata or other ripe olives
8. 2 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed
9. 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
10. 1/8 tsp salt
11. 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan Cheese



Servings: 4
Per Servings: 429g cal, 13g pro,71g carb, 10g fiber, 11g fat, 1.5g sat fat, 354 mg sodium

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Scoop out 1/2 cup of the cooking water and reserve, then drain pasta and return to cooking pot to keep warm.

• Filled the thing/pan with water and salt and left it to boil. Once it boiled I added the pasta stirring every now and then to make sure it didn't stick. Once it was cooked I scooped 1/2 cup of water, drained the pasta then placed it back into the cooking pot.
2. Combine oil and garlic in nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Cook about 2 minutes, or until garlic is soft and fragrant. Do not brown. Add tomatoes and cook about 4 minutes longer, or until tomatoes start to soften. Add spinach and cook, tossing, about 1 minute more or until wilted.

• I don't think I had enough tomatoes but it came out okay. Though my garlic had slightly browned.

3. Stir in lemon juice, olives, capers, pepper, and salt. Reduce heat to low. Add tomato mixture to reserved pasta and toss to coat. Add a few tablespoons of reserved cooking water, if needed, to moisten pasta. Serve sprinkled with cheese.

• No olives for they are icky and I don't know what capers are nor could I find any.

• I might have put a bit more lemon juice than required for the sauce had a lemony taste but it was not unpleasant. I really liked how this came out. Especially when compared to the disaster that the blueberry pancakes were.

Not sure what is next but stay tuned.