Month: June 2012

A Big Event Today

We are going back to my hometown to visit my parents and to help celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. That’s an awesome milestone.

But that’s not the “Big Event” today.

On the way home, we are stopping at one of the greatest pizza places in the world, and will enjoy an order of Italian Fries (with cheese!) That is soooooo not appropriate for weight management. It is nothing but pizza crust, olive oil and garliz, topped with a mound of mozzarella. High sodium. High fat.

High deliciousness, too.

I expect a cheese-induced lethargy by early evening. More later!

Paella (my style)

This is not exactly the recipe that you will find in Spain, but is it darn good and will be made again!

Paella
Serves 6

3 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
1 1/2 cup brown rice, uncooked
1 bell peppers, fire roasted, chopped (if you use store bought peppers, you will need about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup chopped shallot (or onion)
15 green olives, halved
1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 boneless/skinless chicken thighs, halved
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp saffron

1.  In an aluminum 9×13 pan, combine all ingredients.
2.  Preheat your grill, place pan on grate. (Or preheat your oven to 350F, and place pan in oven.)
3.  When it begins to boil, cover with aluminum foil and seal tightly.
4.  Let it bake for 45 minutes. 
5.  Remove cover and let it rest for 5 minutes.

6.  Stir together and serve.

Nutritional data, per 8 ounce serving:
Calories:     322
Fat:             8.2g
Sat fat:        2.1g
Chol:         120mg
Sodium:     231mg
Carbs:       39.1g
Fiber:          2.8g
Protein:     22.9g

This is what it looks like to fire-roast a bell pepper over the stove in your kitchen.

Turn the burner on high, and place the pepper on the grate.  Turn occasionally.  When charred on all side, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let it steam itself for 5 minutes. Remove from the bowl and with a butter knife scrape most of the charred skin off.  Use immediately or save in refrigerator for up to 2-3 days.

The next time I make this recipe, I will reduce the amount of shrimp and increase the amount of chicken. I might also stir in some smoked oysters right before serving (just an idea.)

Wild Flowers On Our Walk

I mentioned in the last post that Tammy took some nice photos of wildflowers as we walked in the “wild forest” of eastern Wisconsin. Here are a few of them. I know the last one is a lilac, but if anyone knows what the other two are, please comment.

The white flower is about the size of a quarter.

Some sort of purple bells, standing about 12 inches high.
One of Tammy’s favorite flowers, these were growing wild in the forest, right off the path.  All pictures were taken with her cell phone.