Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

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Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

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Spaghetti Bake

Posted by terrepruitt on May 29, 2023

I had an open jar of spaghetti sauce in the fridge I wanted to use, but I didn’t have any Parmesan or ricotta so I couldn’t make my regular spaghetti pie so I thought I would make a spaghetti bake. I went back and forth with just mixing the chicken and pasta, but the thought of melted cheese on top was too strong to resist.

Even though I wanted to use the spaghetti sauce I am not a big fan. I went back and forth on mixing it in or pouring it on top. Then I decided I will serve the casserole on a puddle of it. That way I can give my husband more than me. I can have a taste of it, but not have it overpower the other flavors.

As usual I was making this up as I went a long and using what we had so I forgot two things I wanted to put it in. I wanted to add shallots and nutritional yeast. Oh well. Next time.

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Spaghetti Bake

1 can of garbanzo beans
Olive oil
Season All

Tomato sauce (2 cups? or as much as you want)

salt (for boiling pasta)
1 box / 1 lb. of spaghetti

1 C crumbled feta

3 eggs
3/4 C milk
2 cans of chicken
1 cup of shredded cheese
oregano (to taste)
garlic powder (to taste)

olive oil
2 cups of mozzarella

Drain the garbanzo beans. You can use them as is or roast them. I roasted them using Season All (my Roasted Chickpeas post uses garlic powder).

If you are not roasting the chickpeas you may want to turn on your oven to 400°F to preheat it.

Spoon a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish. Cook and drain the spaghetti. (I boil pasta with salted water.) Put half of the cooked pasta on the sauce in the baking dish.

Sprinkle some crumbled feta on top. Then put the beans on top and spread them out.

Scramble/mix the eggs in a bowl add the milk. Drain the chicken, add to bowl. Add the 1 cup of shredded cheese. (I used a triple cheddar blend.) Add the oregano and garlic powder. I also added some salt. Mix it all together than spread over the pasta in the dish.

Put the rest of the cooked spaghetti on top. Sprinkle with olive oil then top with cheese. Put the dish in the preheated (to 400°F) oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Then slice . . . and as I said I served it on a puddle of sauce.

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It is just another way of eating pasta. I love cheese melted in the oven until it is golden brown. This was gorgeous and delicious. There are so many ways you can do it. What would you add?

 

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Complicated Spaghetti Pie

Posted by terrepruitt on May 8, 2023

In May of 2021 I made Spaghetti Pie. I loved it. I love pasta, but I don’t necessarily like tomato sauce, so I loved that this allowed for a hint of it, but it didn’t saturate all of the pasta. But I also am interested in getting more protein so of course I had to complicate it with meat. But it is good.

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Spaghetti Pie

Olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 lb of ground beef
salt
pepper

16 ounces of dried spaghetti
Salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese – divided
2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 cup ricotta
1 1/2 cup mozzarella – divided
1 1/2 cup sauce

aluminum foil
parchment paper
springform pan

Heat some olive oil then add the onion. Cook onion for a bit, then add the ground beef. Cook the ground beef – chopping it up as necessary. Season with salt and pepper if you’d like.  Remember the meat is going to be in the oven for at least 45 minutes.

Cook the spaghetti (with salt if that is how you regularly cook your pasta).

While the pasta is cooking, beat the eggs.

Drain the spaghetti. Mix the cooked, drained spaghetti with the beaten eggs, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the Italian seasoning, and the chopped garlic.

Line the springform pan (bottom and sides) with aluminum foil then with parchment paper. (I use both because the pie tends to leak out of my pan.) Brush the parchment paper with oil.  Put about half of the spaghetti mixture in a baking dish/pan. Layer the cooked meat over the spaghetti, leaving a blank circle in the middle. Then add the rest of the spaghetti and make a well in the middle. Put the ricotta cheese in the middle. Sprinkle the ricotta with 3/4 cup of the mozzarella. Put the sauce on top of the ricotta. Sprinkle the sauce with the rest of the mozzarella and Parmesan.

Bake at 375° F for 45 minutes or until done. Then broil for 2 minutes.

Slice like a pie and serve.

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I really like this. I don’t like spaghetti with sauce the regular way, but I like it in pie form.  And it really isn’t difficult or complicated, but I just laugh because I always seem to take a really quick easy recipe and add a step or two to make it “complicated”.

What about you – how do you like your spaghetti?

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Chicken Finger Update – Already

Posted by terrepruitt on May 3, 2023

Oh, I already have an update on my Chicken Fingers post. I made them again and I doubled the recipe. So two cans of chicken, two eggs, and a little over a cup of shredded cheese. And more garlic, salt, and I added onion powder.

Then instead of trying to roll them like I did last time I just grabbed some and made it long then put it on the baking sheet and formed it there. I made them longer. So I actually only got two more – sixteen, instead of fourteen – out of the doubled ingredients.

Even though they were longer I still baked them at 400° F for 30 minutes.

Maybe the first ones should have been called Chicken Toes because they were so short.

We dipped them in ranch, pasta sauce, and a spicy lime sauce. I had made a salad and had some balsamic vinegar left in my bowl and I dipped mine in that and I actually think that is the route I will take from now on.

To me, while they turn out very crispy they are on the dry side so they need to be dipped in something. But I seriously like them a lot so I will be making them again soon!

Anyone else?

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Chicken Fingers

2 cans (24 oz) of chicken
2 eggs
A little over 1 cup of shredded cheese
a lot of garlic granules
salt
onion powder

Mix all ingredients. Shape into “fingers” as best you can. Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet and do more “shaping” if necessary then bake at 400° F for 30 minutes.

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Fries Or Fingers?

Posted by terrepruitt on May 1, 2023

I have a few things on here I call fries, but this is not one of them.

I spend a lot of time going through Instagram. I know they do it on purpose, just reel after reel and I have spent hours looking and absorbing nothing. I save so many things it is ridiculous. I save a lot of recipes. Well, last week I was looking for one and I came across another one that made more sense for dinner that night. I was looking for something to go with some leftovers. When I saved it I didn’t really read what it was saying it was. And I am still not sure . . . I think I may have seen a commercial. Anyway . . . I made them and they were pretty good. Mine looked NOTHING like Ketosnackz but they did the job.

I liked them so much I am going to make them often.

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Chicken Fingers

1 can (12 oz) of chicken
1 egg
1/2 cup of shredded cheese
a lot of garlic granules
salt

Mix all ingredients. Shape into “fingers”. Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake at 400° F for 30 minutes.

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His recipe didn’t have any seasoning and he baked it for 20 minutes. I wanted more flavors and mine were not ready at 20 minutes. I served them with ranch dressing. Since I am thinking I will make them often I am going to serve them with different things: tomato sauce, chutney, hummus . . . who knows, the possibilities are endless! Oh, I was able to get 14 short little fingers.

What do you think – “fries” or “fingers”?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Substitution In Red Beans And Rice

Posted by terrepruitt on January 9, 2023

Sometimes I mess up my own plans. I was wanting to make Red Beans and Rice so I had my husband (he does the shopping) get four bell peppers. Some of them were for our New Year’s Eve dinner of cheese fondue, and I had planned on using one for the Red Beans and Rice. Well, our fondue was so good that I made it again and didn’t even think about needing a green bell pepper for something else and I used up all of our bell peppers. So when I went to put it in the Red Beans it was gone. Grrrr! But . . . I had some bok choy and I used that.

It was fine. The bok choy doesn’t really add any flavor like a green bell pepper would, but it was good.

So, I am just making a note for myself and letting you know that bok choy in the Red Beans and Rices works good.

Also noting: I have been using white rice and I have doubled the cumin and thyme thyme to 1 teaspoon (from 1/2).

And, yes, in case you are not familiar, I put chickpeas/garbanzo bean in my Red Beans and Rice because I don’t really like red beans/kidney beans, but I do like garbanzo beans.

 

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A Pasta Idea

Posted by terrepruitt on October 10, 2022

This is not a recipe at all . . . it is more of an idea. The other night I was trying to decide on a side to eat with our ground turkey (with mushrooms) and I decided to go with pasta since I didn’t want to turn on the stove AND the oven. Then I saw that I needed to use some Roma tomatoes that were going to start to go bad so I thought I would just add them to my husband’s ground turkey . . . I am not a fan of cooked tomatoes, but I thought he would enjoy it. But when I looked at the tomatoes I decided I need to use all three and not just one so then I thought, well, I will just throw them in the pasta after it has cooked and mix it up with a bit of cheese. Then I thought, I could just slice them and put them on top. Then I thought I could layer the mozzarella. Then I thought . . . dang, I could just turn it into a “bruschetta type” pasta and add basil and balsamic.

I have a recipe for Bruschetta Pasta and I love it, but it is more involved. This was just me putting some sliced tomatoes on the pasta . . . it was really good.

I cooked the pasta and put it on the plate, sprinkled with garlic powder and shredded mozzarella, then put the sliced tomatoes on top of the pasta, a little more cheese, a sprinkle of dried basil (fresh would have been awesome), and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.  Just an idea.  It was really good.  I loved it!

 

Posted in Food | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Fake Pizza

Posted by terrepruitt on July 19, 2022

You may have seen social media posts with “pizza” made with “crust” that is made from chicken. I know, it is not really pizza and it is not really crust, but it is really good. If you have seen my post about pizza dough you will understand why I love this . . . I CAN ACTUALLY DO IT. I am miserable at making pizza crust. I love pizza, but pizza dough and I don’t get along. Even when it is premade and all I have to do is roll it out. I am better at handling the dough than I was, but nowhere near good. Even my chicken crust was not that pretty. But it was tasty!

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Chicken “Crust”

2 cans of chicken (about 4 cups cooked and shredded)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon salt*
1 cup parmesan cheese

*I want to CUT the salt down

400°F 25 mins

I drained the chicken. I scrambled the eggs separately just because I wanted to, then mixed everything in with the chicken.

I put it on a parchment-paper-lined pan, and spread it out to as thick as I wanted it. Then baked it in the oven for 25 minutes at 400°F.

Top with your favorite toppings and put back in the oven . . . . to melt the cheese or cook the toppings, if necessary.

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I put pizza sauce, mozzarella, and cooked sausage on ours. I think any pizza topping will work.

Some people might not be able to tell the difference if you don’t tell them. But some will.  It was not the kind of “pizza” you can pick up and eat with one hand . . . although, one video I saw it showed that, mine did not do that.

I think since it is NOT actually pizza with a bread dough crust any number of flavors mixed in with chicken and then with toppings to “match” would be good. Taco seasoning mixed in then top it with tomatoes, cheese, and olives would be good. A Greek themed one. So many things could be done, just like you can do so many things with “real” pizza.  This is just another way to have something different for dinner.  A way to get that pizza-like taste without the crust.

What do you think?

 

 

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Chicken IN Biscuits

Posted by terrepruitt on April 19, 2022

Here is another “IDEA Recipe” as I didn’t write down the measurements when I made it. It was pretty good. It was just biscuits split in half and rolled out a little bigger, then “stuffed” with chicken. More accurately the chicken was sandwiched between the two biscuit halves then sealed. Since I was just experimenting I was making it up as I went a long and didn’t make notes. And I started with just splitting the biscuits, but then realized I wouldn’t be able to put a lot of chicken in them so I split them then rolled each half to make it larger. I was able to put more chicken in the larger ones.

I used

Canned chicken
onions chopped
bell peppers chopped
corn
seasoning

a tube of biscuits

some cheese

It may surprise you as it surprised me, I didn’t put any cheese IN the mixture. I sprinkled a little on top.  I keep wondering what I was thinking.

I cooked them according to the biscuit directions (350° F for 20 minutes) maybe given them a little more time until they were browned. The chicken is cooked so that wasn’t the concern, I just didn’t want soggy biscuits.

As usual I started cooking late thinking it would be a quick throw together kind of thing and it was not so I didn’t even take any pictures when they were plated. It was yummy and was enough for a couple of meals. You know me I love when I cook and it makes more than one meal.  This was easy to make, but I had not planned on the time it took to roll out the biscuits (which wasn’t that long, but it added time to what I had planned).

This is just a twist on a few of the things I have done with those biscuits I love.

What do you do with biscuits?

 

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Ground Meat “Crumble Hack”

Posted by terrepruitt on March 16, 2022

I hate touching ground meat. But it is easier to use my hands to “crumble” it into the pan then to take up time standing at the stove “chopping” it up. I decided to give myself a head start. This helps get the meat broken up when it hits the pan.  I am sure I am not the ONLY one to have thought of it.  But, I wish I would have thought about this sooner.  Or more accurately, I wish I would remember this every time I deal with ground meat. I open the package and make slices in it. Hopefully posting this will help me remember this method.

I know they have those meat/chopper-in the pan things, but I have enough utensils.  Do you have one of those?  Do you crumble into the pan or use something to break it up while it is in the pan?

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I Finally Made Lemon Bars

Posted by terrepruitt on January 5, 2022

We have a lemon tree so I have always thought I should be making lemon bars so I could use some of our lemons.  The funny thing is – as you may know – lemon bars don’t really use that many lemons or more accurately that much lemon juice.  I have been looking for a lemon square recipe that matched something I had when I was young.  None of the recipes I saw online had pictures that match them.  More on that later.  I had a friend give me a recipe and so I decided to try it.

The recipe confused me because it listed ingredients for the crust and directions for making the crust.  Then it listed ingredients for the filling and instructions on how to make it and put it on the crust.  There was a note that said if using self-rising flour to not use baking powder but there was no flour listed for the filling.  I happen to be on the phone with a friend who has made lemon bars before while I was making them and she said she has always put flour in the filling.  So I found a recipe that matched the one I was making (except it was for twice as much) and figured out how much flour to use.

Anyway . . . I baked them and they were crusty on top and seemed stuck in the pan.  And I just didn’t have time to deal with them the same day I baked them.  So I left them on the counter until the next day.

When I went to remove them from the pan they didn’t seem to be sticking like I had thought, but they cut up awful.  This crusty stuff on the top just broke up.  I do feel I cooked them a tad bit too much.

I tasted them and feared they would be too sweet for my husband and I would end up eating the entire pan . . . but HUZZAH!  He liked them.  So they turned out ok.  Next time I will add more lemon juice and more lemon zest  and I noted that in the recipe below instead of the original amount called (2 Tablespoons and none, respectively) for.  I may also double the crust because that is what I LOVE the most.  But we will see.

What I really need to do to use up lemons is make Avgolemono.

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So crusty on top!

Lemon Bars

CRUST

1 Cup all purpose flour
1/2 Cup butter (1 cube), softened
1/4 Cup powdered sugar/ confectioners’ sugar

FILLING

2 eggs
1 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons***
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoon lemon juice
zest from 1 or 2 lemons

Preheat oven to 350º F.  Mix the flour, butter, and powdered sugar together.  Mix thoroughly.  Press into an ungreased 8X8X2 square baking dish.  Bake for about 20 minutes.

Beat the eggs, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon juice, and lemon zest together until light and fluffy (3 mins).  Pour over hot crust.  Bake for 25 mins or until filling is firm.  Cool, then cut to serve.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

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Of course, this is a very common recipe you can find anywhere, but as you know, I use my blog as my recipe book so I like to document recipes I have made and liked here.

I kept telling my friend they were so ugly and she assured me that they aren’t necessarily a pretty dessert, at least until you add the powdered sugar.

What is your recipe for lemon bars?

***This whole post was about there not being flour listed in the recipe for the filling, and how I put it in when I made it, and then I left the flour OFF of the list of ingredients.

And I made the bars without the flour and my husband loved them and it was fine.  I am adding the flour in the list of ingredients.  02.10.22

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