Recipes from the Archives on March 12, 2013

I’ve got about 5000 recipes sitting in my InBox from as long ago as May of 2012.  As I clear out my e-mail, I’m posting the ones that I’m interested in trying! 

The warm weather has returned to the Midwest, so grilling recipes are perfect for dinner!  Haul out the grill and take advantage of it.

All pictures came from the website specified.  You can click on the picture or recipe name to follow the link to their website.

Food Network

Honey Soy Grilled Salmon with Edamame

Total Time: 28 min

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 8 min

Yield: 4 servings

Level: Easy

Recipes from the Archives on March 5, 2013

I’ve got about 5000 recipes sitting in my InBox from as long ago as May of 2012.  As I clear out my e-mail, I’m posting the ones that I’m interested in trying! 

Some of these use the grill.  If you live in the Midwest, you may have to dig yours out from under, oh let’s say, 10-inches of snow.  Still, I know people who have grilled in snowstorms before, so I’ve decided to send these along anyway.

All pictures came from the website specified.  You can click on the picture or recipe name to follow the link to their website.

Food Network

Sesame Noodles with Chicken

Total Time: 20 min

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 10 min

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Level: Easy

Recipes from the Archives on March 4, 2013

I’ve got about 5000 recipes sitting in my InBox from as long ago as May of 2012.  As I clear out my e-mail, I’m posting the ones that I’m interested in trying! 

All pictures came from the website specified.  You can click on the picture or recipe name to follow the link to their website.

Food Network

Cornucopia Salad

Video!!!

Total Time: 3 hr 28 min

Prep: 20 min

Inactive: 3 hr

Cook: 8 min

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Level: Easy

Neelys’ Lemon Pasta Salad

Video!!!

Total Time: 30 min

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 20 min

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Level: Easy

Chicken or Steak with BBQ Sauce

Video!!!

Total Time: 35 min

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 15 min

Yield: 4 servings

Level: Easy

Ina’s Fresh Lemonade

Total Time: 5 min

Prep: 5 min

Yield: 1-1/2 quarts

Level: Easy

Hoagie Dip

Total Time: 25 min

Prep: 25 min

Yield: 8 servings

Level: Easy

Recipes from the Archives on February 26, 2013

I’ve got about 5000 recipes sitting in my InBox from as long ago as May of 2012.  As I clear out my e-mail, I’m posting the ones that I’m interested in trying! 

Interesting enough, until today, the grill recipes could be useful since it was 60-degrees in the Chicagoland area.  As I get ready to post some of these yummy grill recipes, the temperature dropped and it is snowing like crazy.  Keep these in your archives for better weather and if you live in the Midwest, you know that better weather could be tomorrow.

All pictures came from the website specified.  You can click on the picture or recipe name to follow the link to their website.

Betty Crocker

All-American BBQ Rubbed Chicken

Prep Time: 35 min

Total Time: 35 min

Servings: 4

Recipes from the Archives on January 8, 2013

I’ve got about 5000 recipes sitting in my InBox from as long ago as May of 2012.  As I clear out my e-mail, I’m posting the ones that I’m interested in trying!

All pictures came from the website specified.  You can click on the picture or recipe name to follow the link to their website.

Food Network

Brownies with Coconut Frosting

Total Time: 1 hr 5 min

Prep: 30 min

Inactive: 5 min

Cook: 30 min

Yield: 9 large or 16 mini brownies

Level: Easy

Label Lies: What you find on Chicken

This month in Good Housekeeping (January 2013), they scrutinized the labels on chicken*.  They went through the buzz-words frequently found to help you determine if it is worth the extra money that usually accompanies these terms.

Here's my rating key:
$ = don't bother
$$ = a better option
$$$ = worth the extra cash

* I'd link to the actual article, but alas, I couldn't find it on-line.

FREE-RANGE
Chickens can run around outdoors, but there isn't any guarantee that they actually did.
My Rating: $$ - I'm going to have a little hope that if they had access to the outdoors, they ran around instead of being crammed into cages where they aren't allowed to move all.  Also keep in mind that the USDA only requires outside access, not necessarily the ability to move around without fencing, a specific outside size area or a certain amount of "exercise time" for them.

NATURAL
Yeah, this means diddly-squat.  There is no USDA oversight to this terminology and some that have been labeled as "natural" have been injected with antibiotics.
My Rating: $ - It's simply a marketing term with no meat behind it.  Just a reason to charge more money.

NO HORMONES
The practice of injecting hormones into US raised poultry is illegal... and has been since 1959.
My Rating: $ - If this is all they can come up with, spend your money elsewhere.  All chicken is hormone free, so don't pay extra for this on the label.

ORGANIC
One of the only terms actually regulated by the USDA, the farm must prove that the chickens eat only organic food and raised without any antibiotics or other injections.
My Rating: $$$ - This is the real muscle of the industry since it is regulated.  Not only do the poultry farmers have to prove that they are up to standards, but the feed providers need to prove THEY are up to standards... for SEVEN YEARS.

RAISED WITHOUT ANTIBIOTICS
Similar to Free-Range, this definition can be loosely interpreted because of the term "raised".  It refers to only what happens after the chicken has been hatched.
My Rating: $ - According to Good Housekeeping, a company injected the eggs with antibiotics before they were hatched, so I wouldn't put much faith in anyone using this terminology.

If you don't think that ANY of these terms make a difference, let me share a story with you.  I was making dinner for family once and went to Whole Foods for organic chicken.  At the last minute, I found out more people were going to be coming, so I scooted out to the closest grocery store and bought their fresh chicken.  When cooking, I sectioned the chicken off to make sure I fed "the good stuff" first.

Just as I expected, we ate all of the organic chicken and someone wanted another helping.  He ate the chicken and then asked me if I had done something different to the last batch.  He said it didn't taste "bad" but it tasted different.  When I told him what was different, he said that it didn't taste as fresh or juicy.

So keep that story and these terms in mind next time you are out shopping for chicken.  And remember, you don't have to be having people over to get the best.  You deserve the freshest and most delicious food even when you're eating alone.

Happy Cooking!!!

Chicago Chocolate Tour

I have some GREAT friends!

My friend Nicole surprised me with a walking tour from Chicago Chocolate Tours.  Let's just say I was so excited I may or may not have squealed a pitch so high that only my dogs could hear it.  After a lot of deliberation, we picked the Chocolate Locations of Lakeview and on what could possibly one of the most gorgeous weekends of the year so far, set out for an afternoon of Chicago and chocolate.

I left my husband at home.  He was not pleased.  I did not care.

So we met up for some pre-chocolate lunch.  Yes, we ate in preparation for a chocolate tour.  We decided to go with sushi from Tank Sushi on Lincoln Avenue.  This is just a sampling of what we got:

Tank Sushi, how I love you

We planned on only eating a little to make sure we had plenty of room for chocolate.  Instead, we ate about $90 worth of sushi.  Yes, it was that good.

Not that I had any issues eating all the chocolate put in front of me, though.

We met up with our tour guide Sarah at Argo Tea in Lakeview.

Sarah is adorable and I wanted her entire outfit.