#FreshTastyValentines: Individual Tarte Tatin

So.

It's the last day of #FreshTastyValentines. I'm shocked at how much I've posted for this event.  Really, I think it's more a case that I've actually sat down and written up my posts.  There's lots on the camera to come in the coming months.
First things first, we need to recognize all the amazing sponsors who have helped to make the event such a success!

(Have you entered the Giveaway yet?  You totally should.)

Today, the recipe includes a sponsor item, Envy Apples.

You know how those little cooking hack videos keep showing up on Facebook, demonstrating in 90 seconds how to make something totally drool-worthy and gorgeous?

J has taken to sending them to me.  I watch them and think, "I could do that."  and then I don't.  

But when I saw this video, and I knew that I was going to have some Envy Apples to play with, I thought that it would be worth a shot:

When I lived in France, I learned from my host mother to make a tarte tatin in a 9" cake pan.  This is just on a smaller scale.  My recipe also makes 2 - 1 for you, and one for your loved one.  Or 2 for you.
I present to you now Individual Tartes Tatin:

#FreshTastyValentines: Balsamic Roasted Vegetable and Chicken Stew

So.

Welcome back to another issue of #FreshTastyValentine!  Food to tempt your loved ones that is healthy and delicious.  Here's something delicious.  I believe my exact words to J were that we were having a "bowlful of yum" for dinner.
The beauty of Looneyspoons recipes is that they're delicious, made from staples in your pantry, and they work.  When I saw this stew, it sounded wonderful.  With Robert Mondavi as a sponsor of the blogging event, it just made sense to make something with wine.  Bowlful of yum indeed.
I present to you now from the Looneyspoons Collection, Balsamic Roasted Vegetable and Chicken Stew:

#FreshTastyValentines: Cinnamon Bun Oatmeal

So.

#FreshTastyValentines has been way fun, and I have recipes all weekend to get everything in!  Here's a delicious idea for a quick breakfast that uses a heart-healthy product that I'd never tried before.
Hulled Hemp Seeds are packed with protein and omega -3 and -6 fatty acids.  When I opened my bag from Bob's Red Mill I thought they looked a lot like ground nuts.  The little bit I tried tasted a lot like nuts.  Yum.
I wasn't sure what I was going to do with a bag of hemp seeds until I got my Janet and Greta newsletter for January.  The recipe included either chia seeds, ground flax seed or hemp seeds.  Decision made.  Then I doubled the recipe so J could have a bowl.
On a cold damp Sunday morning, this was welcome and delicious.
I present to you now from Janet and Greta Cinnamon Bun Oatmeal:

#FreshTastyValentines: Pistachio-Crusted Tilapia

So.

I know I've expressed before my love of the Podleski sisters and their cookbook series, Looneyspoons.  J's and my commitment to healthier eating means that I've spent more time leafing through the pages of my copies, looking for new things to try.
With my promise, I spend lots of time looking for ways to cook fish.  I can't make blackened tilapia every week!  This crust for fish was great on tilapia, but I'd like to try it on salmon too.  Versatility.  That's what we're all about around here.
I present to you now from the Looneyspoons Collection, Pistachio-Crusted Tilapia:

#FreshTastyValentines: Tex-Mex Stuffed Butternut Squash

So.

One of the promises that I made to J with his new healthy eating outlook was that I would cook 1 meatless dinner a week.  This was probably one of my less popular promises, seeing as my husband is big on meat.  Big.  As in if I cooked it 3 times a day he'd be all good.
But I went looking for some dishes that contained more beans and less animal protein on my favourite source for such things - Pinterest.  I even created a new board so that I could find things more easily.  This is one of the first things I pinned, knowing full well how much my husband wouldn't be in favour.
While J likes way more vegetables than I do, he's not a fan of squash - except as pumpkin in baked good form.  I like it, but never cook it as a result.  However, I had high hopes for this as really the squash was a vehicle for the Tex-Mex flavours that J is a fan of.  I was wrong.  It's too bad, really; seeing as this is delicious.  I made the stuffing for 4 (I didn't want to use half a can of black beans and have half a can leftover) and took it to work for lunch for a few days afterwards.  It's filling, and so, so good.
I scraped my squash half clean.  J?  Well, he ate the filling and said it was good.  I personally would recommend both.  I present to you now from Life Tastes Good, Tex-Mex Stuffed Butternut Squash:

Secret Recipe Club: Strawberry Maple Baked Oatmeal

So.
It's been a while, but after taking a month off, we're back with a new edition of the Secret Recipe Club!  It's now been 2 years of my belonging to the club in which you're paired up with another blogger and you make something (in secret) from that blog.  Then we all reveal on the same Monday and see what we all made.  Fun, right?  I certainly think so.
This month, I was matched with Rachael from the lovely blog Pizza Rossa.  Rachael is an Australian in Switzerland who has been a vegetarian since she was 18.  J and I are...not...vegetarian.  But J's decision to make healthier choices when eating and my promise to cook a meatless entree every week meant that a vegetarian blog would be a boon to trying something new.
I perused a bunch of recipes, trying very hard to stay away from my old standby on a vegetarian blog, the baking.  Rachael has a bunch of lovely looking baked goods including Cinnamon Challah (or Raspberry Swirl!  So pretty!) and Lemon Macrons with Lemon-Lime Filling (but I'm still intimidated about making macrons.  Rachael has PB&J macrons too.  I totally want to try those as well!!).  I also debated entrees, and found one.  I'm actually sharing it later today as my first recipe post for #FreshTastyValentines!  But then I found this for breakfast, and I wanted to make it too.  Just as well I need 2 recipes for today.
I have made baked oatmeal a couple of times.  I'm always happy with the results and the fact that I then have breakfast for a week that you'd think I'd make it more.  When the weather is like it's been here for the past while - cold, damp, and with a wind that cuts through you, this is a welcome breakfast treat!
I present to you now from Pizza Rossa, Strawberry Maple Baked Oatmeal:

Goals for the Year, and a Quick Roast Chicken

So.
It's been a month since I posted.  Yikes.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  I'm either late or early, depending how you look at it.
I fell into the busy excuse over Christmas as to why I wasn't posting, and then it became a habit to not post.  I've also been reading a ton and not really internetting as much (the horror!)
But J and I spent a quiet holiday here on the mountain, eating at home for almost 2 weeks straight.  I don't think we've ever really done that in a good long time!  We had Prime Rib for Christmas and Hot Wings for New Year's Eve, and had chili while watching football until our eyes fell out New Year's Day.  Then I went back to work.
J and I aren't big into resolutions (although I often make a few here around the blog), but we have made a commitment to eating better this year.  He would like to lose some weight, and I know that I could stand to do the same.  Not that either of us are into counting calories or following a program.  There's too much good food out there!
But eating more mindfully isn't a bad idea.  To that end, we've made a few adjustments to our diet, and J's pants are looser already.  That doesn't really change what will happen around here:  it's still comfort food, and the things that are showing up on our table.  But we've made a decision to switch to water as the usual drink of choice around here, and I've made the promise that I will cook fish more often, cook meatless weekly, and incorporate more fresh produce into meals.
Here's what to expect around here in 2016:

1. The Magazine Challenge rolls on, and we're in 2008 now.  I've updated the Magazine Challenge page to reflect this, and have posted the recipes for January/February.  We've found some new favourites through the past few years.  I hope to find more.  I also wonder what I will do with 5 years of Everyday Food when I'm done this.  I'm going to regain the space that they currently take up.
2. I've told J that I want to cook a meatless meal every week.  Meat is expensive, and we eat too much of it to my way of thinking.  He's not so sure, but I've been pinning and reading.  There should be some good things coming.
3. I promised that I will try and cook fish once a week.  I'm still not a fan, but I'll try.  We've had some tilapia recently with a pistachio crust that was really good.  I'm making the Blackened Tilapia recipe from this blog this week.  I'm trying.
4. Blog events!  The next upcoming one is #FreshTastyValentines in February.  It fits in perfectly with what we want to do food-wise.  

So there's the plans, in a nutshell.  But I promised a chicken.
J has eaten salads for a long time for lunch, but we're making them larger, and have been looking for protein that he can add, along with more vegetables (I still take soup for lunch.  I heart soup, especially in this weather).  He suggested a rotisserie chicken, but I refused to spend what the grocery stores were charging.  But when whole chickens went on sale this week, I told him I'd roast a chicken and we could use the meat for his salads, and freeze some for a casserole later, and then use the carcass to make broth.
I found a video on Facebook from Martha Stewart of how to roast the perfect chicken.  I followed it, and it's super easy.  My oven is a greasy mess right now, but I'll clean it when it cools.  The house, however, smells amazing.
I present to you now Quick Roast Chicken:

Mile High Vegetable Pie

So.
My mom is here for a few days.  We've been doing the family thing the last few days:  my mom's brothers and spouses, my cousins and spouses and their kids here; and then my mom and her brothers and cousins out for lunch a couple of days later.  With big family groups, we do a lot of potluck.  But with my mom staying here, we try a lot of new things.
My mother and I are both believers in having company and trying new recipes.  If it works, you're a genius, and if you don't, well...you have a funny story later and people to help you hide the evidence in the present.  So it's not a surprise when my mom comes that we try new recipes that we probably wouldn't try with 2 of us at home.
I know I've said it before, but I'm a big fan of the Podleski sisters and their wildly successful series of cookbooks, Looneyspoons.  Their recipes are fun, made with pantry staples, and delicious.  While their original cookbook is now somewhat outdated in terms of nutrition trends, the recipes are solid.  They're low in fat, and often with a few tweaks are something that we enjoy.
I don't tweak a lot of recipes without trying them once.  One should, I believe, trust the process of the author.  But in this case, when I read 2 cups of mushrooms, there was no way they'd be going into my main course; and I don't keep reduced fat butter or margarine, nor do I use egg substitute.  Tweaking was necessary.
This is exactly what the title suggests:  lots of vegetables on a crust.  With a little egg and cheese to hold it together, how could that be bad?
I present to you now from the Looneyspoons gals, Mile High Vegetable Pie:

Weeknight Dinner: Blackened Tilapia

So.
I don't cook fish for J as often as I've promised in the past.  His cardiologist told him at one point that he should eat fish 2 or 3 times a week.  I promised to try and cook fish once a week.  I'm not great about the follow through.  Fish will never be my favourite.
Tilapia is not a particularly strong fish, and will often take on the flavour of anything that has been cooked with it.  In the past, I've used tilapia for fish tacos and coated it in cornmeal and served it with salsa.  The spices of this version were lovely, and J and I both enjoyed it.
Once again, I found a recipe on Budget Bytes that was quick, easy, and fish for those of us who don't enjoy it.
I present to you now Budget Bytes' Blackened Tilapia:

A Meal for Your Nose: Tuskinny Chicken

So.
I'm still loving my new Looneyspoons cookbook.  So many interesting recipes!  So many bad puns!  J is tormented and well fed at the same time.  I have yet to make a bad recipe out of this book, so I guess I'll keep trying.  The problem is, I don't make it back to make things again that we loved the first time.
This is one of those things that sounded good, but there is no way to describe how amazing it smells.  The directions include these words:
"...if you have the patience, let dish stand, uncovered, for another 5 minutes to cool slightly."
What an odd phrase.  Make it, and you will know what they're talking about.  I made it the 5 minutes, but I licked the spoon.
I present to you now from the Looneyspoons Collection Tuskinny Chicken:

Easy Weeknight Meal: Fajita Salad

So.
My birthday is this week.  It hasn't happened yet, and we're going out to celebrate.  But the celebrations have really already started on the mountain.  We had cake and ice cream and presents with my parents this week.  Well, Mom, J and I had cake.  Homemade pineapple upside down  yum.  Dad had Boost.  Cancer is evil.
We also had presents.  I got a dehumidifier for the basement and this book:

Yeah, I can't spin the picture.  But it's still exciting!  400 pages of new recipes.  I spent Sunday night on the couch reading titles to J of things I want to make.  I'm excited about cooking.  Even if there's no time.
Enter this recipe.  Not a whole lot of time to put together, and with some garlic bread, a wicked filling meal.  I present to you now The Looneyspoons' Collection Eata Fajita Salad:

Healthy Brunch: Breakfast Egg Pitas

So.
We're on the healthy eating trail.  I keep pushing the Choice Menus book on J, simply because there's a great deal of variety and a good deal of food in each menu.  A couple of weeks ago, J had a doctor's appointment at 1:15 that was about an hour away from home.  I convinced him that brunch was the answer!  We had breakfast at 10, with protein to keep us going until we got home.
I present to you now the centrepiece of this menu, Breakfast Egg Pitas:

Shepherdopolous Pie

So.
In the theme of all things healthy, I've been trolling for recipes.  In the theme of cleaning out my freezer, there have been some rather stringent requirements around what we eat.
According to the inscription in the front, I got my copy of Looneyspoons for my 24th birthday.  Their broccoli-cheddar soup is my go to recipe, but I've never made many other things from the book.  With J's new health requirements, that is about to change. 
For those familiar with Looneyspoons, and its successors Crazyplates and Eat, Shrink and Be Merry, it's a cookbook of lowfat recipes with huge taste and a huge helping of puns.  The book is old enough that some recipes are a little outdated for current nutrition trends, but as a basic book it's got some good ideas.
This is one of them.  I present to you now Shepherdopolous Pie:

Baked Fish en Papillote

So.
J has been told to lose weight.  Frankly, I probably have more to lose than he does.  We find that eating at home has helped us in the past year to shed a *little*.  I can fit into clothes that didn't fit this time last year, but there's a long way to go.
One thing that he has been told to eat is fish; at least twice per week.  I'm not a fan.  I've told J that I will try really hard to cook fish once per week.  I spent some time on Pinterest, looking for possible recipes.  I polled my friends on facebook for the ways they like to cook fish.  I also spent some time reading.
A cookbook that I have from some point in my past is put out by the Canadian Diabetes Association called, Choice Menus.  We have spent time studying the meals, looking for things we like and things we'd like to try.  This was our first choice out of the book.
I present to you now Baked Fish en Papillote:

Planning: July 30 - Aug 3, 2012

So. 
J went to the doctor last week.  He's started meds for atrial fibrillation and high blood pressure.  The doctor has also given him a diet plan to work on incorporating into his life.  The biggest ick on it for me is the suggestion of fish at least twice per week.  I'm not a fish girl.  As in, I don't like it and don't cook it.  The things we do for love.
As a result, there will be some changes to what we eat here on the mountain.  Frankly, we've both been losing weight slowly, just through my cooking at home (which is frightening, when you really think about it.  Sometime I'll have to talk in greater detail about my suspicion surrounding low-fat and fat-free products).  We're hoping with the incorporation of more fruit and vegetables and some fiber we can achieve some more.
Here's this week's plan.  We're off for a long weekend to see my inlaws, so it's a short week.

Monday:  Friends of ours just lost her father.  I volunteered to take a meal to them.  I made them an Oatmeal Cake with Coconut-Pecan frosting from Pinterest that looked and smelled delicious.  I also took them the Cheesy Mexican Chicken Casserole.  Half to them, half to us for dinner with salad.

Tuesday:  Lunch is a new macaroni and cheese and plums, a fruit that J has never tried.  Dinner is Fish en Papillote with vegetables.

Wednesday:  Dinner is the leftovers of the chicken casserole

Thursday:  J has another doctor's appointment, and it's just far enough away that that timing of it is bothersome.  As a result, we're having Breakfast Pitas and then a snack after the appointment.  Grilled steak and vegetables for dinner.

Should be a good week.  I'm excited to spend time in a new cookbook.