Tuna Patties

Deliciousness.

Hey there!  It's been a while...I know, I know, bad blogger! *pout*

Sometimes, life happens, you know?  But I'm back! And today I have a lunch recipe for you.  The second most important meal of the day.  Why lunch is the second most important meal?  I'm not really sure.  I may have just made that up.  But whatever, right? ;)

Anyway!  I made tuna patties for lunch today, that I found while browsing the Internet.  I find a ton of good recipes that way. 

I've made tuna patties several times, but never quite this way.  I always love finding new ways to make food I love. 

Here's what ya need:

Mix everything but the oil and butter together in a bowl, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  While you're waiting on that, go ahead and make the tartar sauce.

If you're like me, and you don't

 have relish in the house, go ahead and chop up some pickles for your relish. Then proceed. :)  Mix the mayo, relish, celery seeds(not pictured), dill, and pepper.  Don't add salt.  I'm not sure why I did, but I regretted it.  So don't be like me, ok?  Just say no to the salt.  Just say no.  Put it in the fridge.

After your tuna has been sitting for a bit, heat up the oil in a pan, and add the buttah.  Oh, you don't use buttah? Hmm.  Go ahead with the butter then.  Press the tuna into a ball, then carefully (burns hurt!) add it to the hot oil/butter mix and flatten it a bit.  Cook until its all pretty and brown, then flip it.  Remove it from the pan and drain it on paper towels. 

Serve it with the chilled sauce.

Look at how pretty and flaky they are! So, so delicious!

Enjoy!

Liz

Tuna Patties
adapted from Linda's Low Carb Menu's and Recipes

2 6-ounce cans tuna, drained
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, 1/2 ounce
Dash cayenne pepper (more if you can handle the heat)
2 tablespoons oil and/or butter
Mix all of the ingredients in a small bowl; chill at least 30 minutes. Heat the oil and a little butter in a large skillet on about medium heat. Drop the tuna mixture by large spoonfuls into the hot oil. Flatten slightly and shape into patties. Fry about 3-4 minutes on each side until well-browned. Flip them very gently and brown the other side. Serve with Tartar Sauce or sauce of your choice.

Tartar Sauce

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons dill pickle relish
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
Dash pepper
1/8 teaspoon dill
Mix all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Spoon about 1 tablespoon sauce over each tuna patty.

Makes about 6 tablespoons

Pretty Coleslaw

Who doesn't love creamy, crunchy slaw on top of a nice big juicy burger? Or on a hot dog?

Ok, so I realize that there are probably many, many people in this wide world that don't like coleslaw.  But I, am not one of them.

I love it!  With its slightly sweet, slightly tangy, crunch, its the perfect (or so I think) summer salad.

I've never made homemade slaw before, and so when I found a recipe for it that looked fairly simple, didn't require me to heat up my kitchen (hallelujah!) and I had (almost) all of the ingredients, I jumped on it.

Pretty Slaw
adapted from The Pioneer Woman

What you'll need:
1/2 head of cabbage
1/2 head of red cabbage (the pretty factor)
1/2 C milk
1/2 C mayo (I suppose you could use Miracle Whip, or something but...why?)
1 t. white vinegar
1T. sugar (I used truvia)
1/4 t. salt
A few dashes of cayenne pepper

Slice the cabbages in half

I never quite picked up the hang of coring cabbage. I've banged it on the counter, the floor, you name it. And I haven't ever felt the urge to buy cabbage in large quantities to practice on. So I cut it out. Don't judge me.

Isn't it preeeeetty?

Incidentally, why do they call it red cabbage?  It's...purple.  A pretty, pretty purple.

Slice both cabbage halves thinly and put 'em all in a bowl.

In a separate, smaller bowl, add the milk,

vinegar,

mayo,

salt, sugar, and cayenne pepper.  Mix it all together really well.

Pour milk mixture over cabbage.

Mix it up well, then cover and stick it in the fridge for a few hours.

You want to leave it in there for at least two hours.  The flavors need time to meld.  To marry.  To become one.

Yeah, ok I'm done now.  Enjoy!

Love, Liz

Also, I'm not really sure why this is all centered down here, and not up top.  It just kind of worked out that way.  :)

Caprese Pizza

Hey there! Long time, no see! And why is that, you ask? Well, because I’m lazy. And to be honest, I haven’t really been making anything worth blogging lately. There have been a couple of things here and there that have made me say, “Oh! I should have blogged this!” but nothing too fancy. But this time…this pizza…it deserves to be delivered to the masses. “The masses” being the maybe eight people that read this blog haha.

I love caprese anything. Tomatoes, basil, mozzarella cheese, and olive oil? How can that not sound good? Just a couple of simple ingredients and you have delicousness. So, here I give you, caprese pizza.

The music: None this time as I was watching re-runs of The Vampire Diaries. Vampires love pizza…it’s a fact…trust me.
The drink: Not coffee! Believe it or not, it was water this time.

Ingredients for the noms:

Olive oil

5 tomatoes (I used ‘on the vine’ tomatoes but use whatever looks good that day)

A couple of handfuls of fresh basil

Approx. 2 ½ cloves of garlic

A homemade or store bought pizza crust (Yeah, I used a Pilsbury one this time…sue me)

1 ¾ c. mozzarella cheese (The cheese opted to not have its picture taken today)

Preheat the oven to 425. Slice the tomatoes, not too thick, not too thin and place them on some paper towels while you work on everything else. This will help soak up the excess liquid so that the crust won’t be soggy.

Spread the dough out onto a greased baking sheet. And let me add, this can that the crust came in…scared the CRAP out of me! Why must they pop the way they do!? Stupid pop cans.

Give the basil a rough chop. No need to be perfect here.

Grate the garlic cloves. You could mince them if you’d like but I think using a grater makes the garlic easier to spread.

Drizzle the olive oil over the crust, then spread it out along with the garlic.

Add the tomatoes, then the basil.  Finally sprinkle the cheese that finally decided to crawl out of the dark and have its picture taken on top.

Bake for 10 minutes. I had done 12 and ended up with some browning…which is ok too. And viola, a delicious, beautiful pizza. PS: This pizza is very good with some red wine (but then again, what isn't good with some wine?).

Hope you like it!!

Love,

Sarah

Creamy Shrimp Salad

One of my favorite things to eat in the summer is shrimp.  Cocktail shrimp, grilled shrimp, you name it, I love it.  So when I came across this recipe, and it had nothing in it that I couldn't eat on my diet, I knew I had to make it. 

Creamy Shrimp Salad
adapted from Skinny Taste

16 oz peeled, cooked shrimp
1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced
1 large celery stalk, thinly sliced
3 T. sour cream
1 T. mayo
1 t. Old Bay seasoning (or to taste)
Salt, to taste

Now, you could be smart, and buy cooked shrimp.  I just wasn't thinking that far ahead, and bought the frozen stuff.  So, if you buy cooked shrimp, obviously, ignore this step.  But if its the frozen, non-cooked stuff...boil some water and cook shrimp for 5 minutes or so, then rinse with cold water. 

Combine lime juice, mayo, sour cream, Old Bay and salt in a bowl.

Add the cucumber and celery.

Add the shrimp.  Mix together and keep in the fridge until ready to eat.  Simple, yes? And nice for a hot summer day. :)

Enjoy!

Love,
Liz

Lime-Garlic Pork Chops and Cheesy Cauliflower Mash

Before you say 'gross'...don't. 

I'm with you. I hate cauliflower. Always have. A friend had told me about this recipe, and mentioned, off hand, that her kids loved it, and even the teens couldn't tell it was cauliflower. So I plunged and gave it a try.

And am SO glad that I did. But first, the chops!

I had everything for this recipe in my pantry already, which is why I decided to make it. Only a few ingredients, and the lime-garlic combo sounded delicious.

Cast of Characters

4 boneless pork chops (or be like me, and cut two butterflied chops in half)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t cumin
1 t paprika
Juice and zest of 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste.

Combine everything in a gallon size ziplock bag, and give it a good shake. Or rub. Just do whatever you deem necessary to get the goods onto the chops. Up to you. Stick the bag in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, minimum. You can leave them in there for up to six hours or so.

Ok, fine. I made that number up. But I'm sure six hours will be fine. Or eight. I did two.

When you're about 40 minutes or so from dinner time, go ahead and start making the cauliflower.

What you'll need:

2 16 oz bags frozen cauliflower- you can use more or less, but this will be a good 8x8 size pan
3 T sour cream
1 T mayo
Green onion, to taste
Cheese, to taste (I used a cheddar jack blend)
Salt and pepper, to taste
- you could also add bacon, which is super good, if you have bacon. Which I don't.

Boil the cauliflower in water, and prepare just like you would mashed potatoes. Add the remaining ingredients (sour cream, mayo, cheese, etc.) and mash. 

Spoon into an 8x8 baking dish and cover with more cheese, if desired. (or bacon. yum.) and bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melty and bubbly and oh-so good.

Now onto the chops.  Again. 

Line a baking sheet, or broiler pan, if your husband hasn't used yours for God-only-knows-what and ruined it, with foil, which makes for easy clean up.  Easy+clean up=very, very good.

Place the chops under the broiler  for 4-5 minutes on each side, until nice and brown. 

The aroma.  Oh, the aroma.

Serve with a nice salad.  Enjoy!



Love,
Liz

On Diets.

It's been a while.  I know, bad bloggers, BAD! *pout*

But it's summer, and sometimes, life has to happen.  And, unfortunately for me, so do diets. 
I'm such a foodie, that dieting is something that is beyond hard for me.  I always have the very best of intentions, honest!  I'll think to myself, Grilled chicken tonight.  Then I sit back and actually think about grilled chicken.  Just plain ol' grilled chicken.  It's bland. 

So I think, Something must be done about this blandness!

And I add things.  Yummy things.  Things like cheese.   And breadcrumbs, or cereal.  And what goes better with chicken than potatoes?  Mashed are my favorite.  Mmm. 

Then, when I sit down to eat, I look at my plate and I've gone from grilled chicken to...a full blown, calorie-laden, carb fest.  Don't get me wrong, its always delicious.  Always.  And fun to cook.  And delicious.  Did I mention that?

A friend of mine had been telling me about the Atkins diet for a while, and had decided to jump back on the bandwagon.  So I decided, eh, what the heck.  And jumped with her.  So I'm now starting week two of said diet.  I'm down seven pounds, and can still eat yummy food. 

So I'll still be posting, (or rather...I'll start posting.  Again.  Sigh.  Sorry.) but I'll be making low-carb meals.  Tasty low-carb meals.  And hopefully losing weight as well. :)

Love,
Liz

Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Mousse is one of those desserts that make you go, “Yummm….” Seriously, there I’ve never met a mousse I don’t like and I’m sure you haven’t either. Well let me tell you, this one is no different. I mean, chocolate and booze? Sounds like a party to me.

This particular mousse is one my mom used to make. Now, she wasn’t the greatest cook by any stretch of the imagination, but one thing she could make was this mousse. So when it was requested that I make it for dessert for Mother’s Day/my uncle’s birthday dinner, I couldn’t refuse. It’s one of those desserts that everyone loves but no one ever seems to make very much. And why is that, you ask? It’s not because it’s difficult to make (it’s really not). It’s because it’s so rich and so bad for you that you fall into an instant guilt-fest after you indulge.

The music: The Gaslight Anthem…I know, shocking. Give “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” a listen. It’s totally worth it.

The drink: Orange juice…only because I had it out to cook with.

Here’s the line up:

1c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1T. orange juice

2T. Kahlua

1t. vanilla extract

2 medium eggs (must be medium)

2 egg yolks

¼ c. sugar

1c. heavy cream

A quick note: I made three batches of mousse, so in my pictures, you’ll see more than what the recipe calls for.

Melt the chocolate chips, orange juice, and Kahlua over a double boiler. Now, it’s important to put them all together to melt.

 

Don’t melt the chocolate and then add the juice and booze….otherwise you end up with this hot mess right here:

Yeah, I totally goofed. Adding most liquids to melted chocolate causes it to basically say, “No, I’m not going to work for you.” After it all melts, stir in the vanilla. I realize this contradicts what I just said, but for some reason, it was what I was taught to do, and it works. Don’t judge me.

So remember:

Separate the yolks and all that jazz. I promise that it’s important to use MEDIUM eggs. If you don’t, the mousse won’t set correctly.

Put the egg yolks, eggs, and sugar in a blender. Blend on medium for 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream and blend for 30 seconds.

Add the melted chocolate mixture and proceed to have a conversation with your blender (unless you’re making a triple batch, you won’t need this conversation):

Blender: “Uh, you know all of that isn’t going to fit in here, right?”

Me: “Pffft…you’ll be fine!” *pours more of the mixture into the blender*

Blender: “I’m overflowing…”

Me: “You’re fine! Shut up!” *jams the lid on, turns on the blender, and watches as it begins spill out of the top and leak down the sides*

Blender: “Told you so.”

Me: “Bite me.”

So here is the after picture (meaning after I cleaned up) of what the mixture should look like after you’ve added the chocolate and blended until smooth.

Pour into small serving dishes or one large one and stick it in the fridge until it’s set. It should be the consistency of a firm pudding…or the consistency of creamy, dreamy, deliciousness as my cousin told me.

Enjoy!

Love,
Sarah