Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!  We hope everyone had a great day with family and friends.  It was a lazy day here at the Kendi Haus.  We went to church and after I made a nice Polish meal for Easter.  I even added peppercorn eyes to the butter lamb!  Then we all took a nap.  It was nice.  I hope Little Man liked his first taste of Polish food, cuz he's gonna have it every Easter.  :)

Cheers!

Love,
The Kendi Haus

My Polish ancestors would be proud.  Cutting up real kielbasa from the Polish deli for Easter dinner, and pregnant no less. :)

Kielbasa, pierogi, butter lamb, beans and rolls!

Chicken Bake with Black Beans and Salsa

Dinner options in the Haus of Kendi have been pretty sparse this week because we haven't gone grocery shopping since returning from vacation (more on that soon). Rather than going out for dinner last night I decided to take a quick stock of the pantry to see what I could whip up. I found a can of black beans, a jar of salsa, and some chicken in the freezer. After consulting the Google I found a recipe for a Chicken Bake with Black Beans and Salsa. It sounded tasty, we had all of the required ingredients, and it was a simple recipe. Turns out I made a great find! I modified the recipe slightly based on what we had in the kitchen and the baking time didn't work out. I thought the suggested time of 35 minutes on 350 was a little short, but I went with it. I ended up adding another 25 minutes at 400. Here are the details:

Chicken Bake with Black Beans and Salsa

4 chicken breast halves
salt and pepper
1 can (16 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (12-15 oz) corn, drained (I used frozen corn, about 12 oz)
2 cups chunky salsa, divided
1 can (4 oz) chopped mild green chile peppers, optional (we didn't have this)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided (we didn't have fresh, so I just sprinkled some dry)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I used Colby Jack)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 2 quart casserole dish.

Mix the beans, corn, 1 cup of salsa, chile peppers, and half the cilantro in the casserole dish. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and place on top of the mixture. Pour the remain salsa and cilantro over the chicken. Top evenly with the cheese.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the chicken is cooked thoroughly (this took another 35 minutes for me - 10 minutes at 350 and 25 minutes at 400).

Chicken Bake with Black Beans and Salsa

Stats
Cost: $6
Servings: 4
Leftovers: yes
Time: 45 minutes

Menu Sample - One Week

The most common New Year's Resolution is to lose weight.  That was one of my 2012 resolutions.  It was the only one that I completed.  If you have been reading trough the blog, you know by now that Kevin and I are fans of the 17 Day Diet.  We have lost a combined total of around 65 lbs.  A lot of my friends are hitting the healthy eating bandwagon early this year and many have asked for tips/ recipes/ advice.  I believe the biggest obstacle for any diet is putting meals together, especially if cooking isn't your thing and you have little time.  So, to help my girlfriends out a bit (we're all in this together), I have put together the menu that Kevin and I are currently doing for this week, for we too, are also on a diet to get rid of holiday weight and get ready for our vacation.

Hope this helps!


Week 1 - Cleanse Menu

Sunday

Dinner:  Chicken Kabobs w/ Green Peppers and Onions
                    (grill outside or use a George Foreman.  Season chicken with spices.)


Monday

Breakfast:  2 eggs, scrambled w/ chopped green pepper and onions, sprinkle Low Fat cheese on top

Snack:  Low Fat yogurt (probiotic)
            Mixed Berries

Lunch:  Leftover Chicken Kabobs w/ Veggies

Snack:  Red Grapes (2pm or earlier)

Dinner:  Taco Salad
                (lettuce, homemade salsa, light amount of LF cheese, ground turkey w/ taco low  
                      sodium taco  seasoning packet)

Dessert:  Vanilla Greek yogurt (probiotic)


Tuesday

B:  Greek yogurt
     Mixed Berries

S:  Pear

L:  Leftover Taco Salad

S:  Carrots w/ Lite Ranch

D:  Chicken Stir Fry (NO rice)
           (cook chicken in low sodium soy sauce.  Add brocoli, carrots, peppers and onions)

Dessert:  Vanilla Greek yogurt


Wednesday

B:  2 eggs

S:  Low Fat yogurt
     Red grapes

L:  Leftover Chicken Stir Fry

S:  Broccoli w/ Lite Ranch

D:  Chili  (recipe here but NO BREAD!)

Dessert:  Vanilla Greek yogurt

Cycle 1 Chili

Thursday

B:  Low Fat yogurt
     Apple

S:  Carrots

L:  Leftover Chili

S:  Pear (2pm or earlier)

D:  Lemon Garlic Chicken w/ Green Beans (find recipe here, NO POTATOES)

Dessert:  Vanilla Greek yogurt

Lemon Garlic Chicken

Friday

B:  2 eggs, scrambled w/ chopped green peppers and onions, sprinkle w/ LF cheese

S:  Yogurt
     Mixed Berries

L:  Leftover Lemon Garlic Chicken and Green Beans

S:  Carrots w Lite Ranch

D:  Baked Tilapia w/ Peppers
      Steamed broccoli

Dessert:  Vanilla Greek yogurt


We start every morning, very first thing, with hot lemon water.  We also take a Green Tea suppliment with every meal.  You need two servings of probiotics a day, that's why yogurt is there twice everyday.  There are other foods that are probiotic, I just don't like them.  :)

On the weekends, except Sunday dinner (because of Monday leftovers), we usually graze on veggies, fruit and protein like canned tuna or chicken on salads.  We run around a lot so meals have to be quick.  You can mix up the tuna with mustard instead of mayo and it's very good.  Kevin also makes a really tasty Dijon salad dressing which I'll share later.  And steaming some veggies in the microwave only takes a couple minutes.  We eat a lot of fish on the weekend because it doesn't make good leftovers. 

This is all for Cycle 1 of the 17 Day Diet.  It is the hardest cycle but is also the most effective.  Other cycle menus have a lot more variety.

Check back here again.  I'll post another round of Cycle 1 next week to keep you guys going.

Good luck!

Cheers!

Best Baked Ziti Ever

I don't generally like to toot my own horn, but I'm not ashamed to say that I make some of the best baked ziti ever. It's my go-to meal for special occassions and Sunday dinner. It's probably the only dish I can make without looking at the recipe cards. I start by making a batch of homemade marinara. While the marinara is simmering I boil the noodles and cut/grate the cheese. Usually the noodles and marinara are done at just about the same time as I finish with the cheese. I mix together the ingredients, transfer to a baking dish, top with a layer of cheese, and stick it in the oven. Half an hour later we have a bubbling mass of cheesy goodness topped with a golden-brown layer of more cheesy goodness. Yum! Oh, and the leftovers are great for taunting your co-workers at lunch the next day.

It pairs great with a Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir. This was the first meal I cooked in my new kitchen in Lansing. After spending a year without a functional kitchen I needed to celebrate with my favorite meal and one of my favorite wines - a 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon from McKenzie-Mueller. My brother and I discovered McKenzie-Mueller when I was visiting him in San Francisco several years ago. We were driving around hitting up some wineries in Napa Valley and stumbled on them after getting a recommendation from another winery. They aren't usually open for tastings, but it was the 4th of July so they had special hours. The owner spent a lot of time with us explaining all of the wines and letting us taste just about everything they make.

Stats:
Cost: $7
Servings: 6-8
Leftovers: Yes
Time: 60 min

Summer Ravioli

Over here in the Kendi Haus, Kevin and I have a system for meals.  He enjoys cooking them, I enjoy eating them.  I am very fortunate to have a husband that is a really good cook.  Lately, we have established a pattern of me finding recipes to try, and Kevin trying them.  So far, it has worked out pretty well with a bunch of new dishes to add into dinner rotation.  Here was a keeper that we tried last night.

Summer Ravioli (originally found here) with our modifications:

1 package frozen ravioli
1 large, ripe tomato, washed, stem removed, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped
¼ cup Italian parsley, leaves only, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons sweet butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 cup water
½ cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Heat to boiling, 5-6 quarts of water salted with kosher salt. Drop in the fresh pasta, being careful to separate the ravioli. Cook 4-5 minutes until al dente.
2. Heat the butter and olive oil in a sauté pan, add the cooked ravioli, tomato pieces and garlic. Season with sea salt and pepper. Toss and stir 5 minutes.
3. Raise the heat, add ¼ cup water. Simmer and reduce the sauce.
4. Serve on a plate, topped with a sprinkle of Italian parsley and grated cheese.

We changed the recipe on accident (note the use of pasta water in the original), but it still came out great.  Next time we try it, we'll cut back on the butter to make it a little bit healthier.  We try to only have one pasta dish a week, and this one is filling and gives you good left-overs for lunch (a must for any Kendi meal).  Highly recommended.

Cheers!

Stats
cost:  less than $6
servings:  4
leftovers:  yes
time:  35 minutes