CEiMB: Linguini with Shrimp and Vegetables

I really enjoyed this recipe, chosen by Farah over at Confessions of a Novice Baker. So much so that last night after making it, eatting it, and tidying up the kitchen and watching a little TV, I went to bed and forgot about this last step in the CEiMB process. oh well -- better late than never.

I used my precious Argentinian shrimp for this (those babies are so good), and I love all the other ingredients, so I knew going in this would be a winner. Work is beginning to get a little intense, and will only get more so as we get closer to the holidays, so I was probably most enthusiastic about the wine (just kidding -- well kinda).



I only made half of the recipe and it was a ton of food. I'm happily bringing the second serving to work today -- I love having good eats as leftovers.

This will be going into the rotation with the other Ellie recipes I love.

CEiMB: Sweet and Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

This week's recipe was chosen by Leslie over at Lethally Delicious who is one of the bloggers that got me interested in CEiMB to start off with, and is an all around great gal who is a hoot! And now she can add "great picker of recipes" to the list of her positive traits, as I thought this sandwich was super good.

Sadly, my pictures are not super good, so I'm only submitting the best one (sad that picture up there is the best one). This was a "night time shoot" and the photographer (um...that would be me) was very hungry, and didn't have the patience to set up a decent shot. So imagine these as beautiful albeit slightly blackened sandwiches.

I really liked how all the flavors worked together -- the spiciness of the cheese was cooled by the tomatoes, which were made more savory by the caramelized onions. I made two sandwiches and heated up the second for dinner tonight. It was as yummy as the first one.

Head on over to Leslie's blog for the recipe, and then head on over to CEiMB to join the fun.

CEiMB: Black Bean Mexican-Style Pizza

I was plenty happy when I saw that Joanne over at Apple Crumbles chose this recipe for this week's Craving Ellie in my Belly (where, for reasons I can't explain, I can't leave comments - bummer!). I was happy because it was a non-chicken recipe (yay!) and because this looked like a tasty, healthy, EASY recipe to put together.

The bean dip was pretty easy. I recently had a bad experience with a jalapeno pepper (burning, I mean sizzling pain, that slowly worked its way from one finger to the next. Had to throw out the sponge so I wouldn't reinfect myself), so I added hot sauce rather than a pepper. The dip was definitely a winner - mine turned out a little too limey, so much so that I double checked the recipe to make sure I didn't get my "tablespoons" and "teaspoons" confused. But after the first night that flavor mellowed out, and I've really enjoyed the dip after that.

The pizzas came together quickly and easily. I made one as written, and one I added just a little bit of cheese. After a trip to the oven I cooled it off and ate it. Very tasty - even the one without the cheese was flavorful and complete.


This is definitely going into the keeper pile. The recipe is here, and over at Apple Crumbles.

An attempt at artful plating - not so successful!

CEiMB: Substitution Thursday

"Substitution Thursday" is what I'm calling this week, since I can't eat the Pulled BBQ Sandwiches chosen by the fabulous Pamela at Cookies with Boys (those boys sure are cute!). I love barbecue, I love rotisserie chicken. But unfortunately, chicken does not like me. And since the last few weeks have featured chicken recipes, I'm woefully behind in my CEiMB participation.

I am still working with "The Food You Crave" and have made more out of this book than any other recently. I'm still obsessed with Ellie's Nutty Granola though I'm naughty and add sweetened coconut to the mix. How can I resist when it adds such a nice flavor?


I've also tried her Turkey Meatballs with Quick and Spicy Tomato Sauce which is the recipe that lead me to join the CEiMB group. Every blog I visited the week it was the recipe raved about how good they were and the pictures all looked fabulous. The meatballs are unbelievably flavorful, and I really do like the sauce. My only complaint is that there isn't enough sauce to pasta ratio. I like really saucy pasta dishes as it's a way to eat less carbs and more "good stuff". I was so intent making this - both times - that I only got a quick snap. Love the splash of sauce on the side - classy, no?




I'm looking forward to next week when I can get back into full participation mode. The Black Bean Mexican Style Pizza looks yummy, so I'll meet you back here next week with a full report.

CEiMB: Stuffed Turkey Burgers

This week has been a whirlwind. Last thing I remember it was Sunday night and I was bemoaning going to work in the morning, and now it is Thursday night. How did that happen!?!? Not that I'm complaining that another weekend is suddenly upon me, but whew! What a week!

I've been very busy at work - a ton of stuff going on in my department, bunch of changes coming up, plus the company is moving to a new building. We are almost literally moving across the freeway. Across the street or across town, moving a company of 400 people is no easy task! The place is beginning to look like a college dorm at the end of spring semester. As much as I hate moving myself, I wouldn't wish moving a company on anyone.

So with all of that going on I was so happy that Peggy at Pantry Revisited picked a nice, easy recipe for the week. I'm slowly catching up on old Ellie recipes that the CEiMB group made before I officially joined, so I got enough turkey to make both 1 burger and the Turkey Meatballs.


Instead of going the jarred red pepper route, I decided to roast my own. There is something satisfying watching food burn on your stove after a hectic day. I was a little concerned when the stem caught on fire, but the house is still standing so all is well.

Once that process was over, putting this together was a snap. Had a little "stickage" problem with the grill pan (so much for my new non-stick spray!), but once pried out of the pan this was very good.


I served it with a smidge of the usual condiments (I was very good and really used a very small amount), plus a tomato slice, and the obligatory avocados on a sesame seed bun. Surprisingly good (though not a beauty to photograph)! I would certainly make these again. Easy to do just one, and a great way to use up left over ground turkey.

CEiMB: Updates, a catch up, but no Carrot Cake

Although I am a big fan of carrot cake I passed on this week's recipe selected by Leanna at Enjoying My Favorite Things. I feel very sloth-like, since she battled tornadoes and power outages to get hers done. I just battled a little bit of busy-ness at work, and lost. Ugh!

I am happy to report I remembered to photograph my second serving of last week's pick, the Cobb Salad. I've enjoyed the dressing all week. It is pretty tasty just mixed with tomatoes and avocados.

Speaking of tomatoes and avocados, I took advantage of left overs and made a BAT - Bacon, Avocado and Tomato sandwich. It was seriously yummy. I pondered tossing a little blue cheese in there just to give it some zip, but decided against it. It was tasty, but I'm thinking I should make it again for the experiment -- yeah..... I need to sacrifice and make another sandwich for the sake of science to see if the blue cheese is as good as it sounds.

Also, on a coolish day, I made Ellie's Granola (previously made by the CEiMB group before I joined). I must say it was/is very tasty. I followed the recipe exactly (except for that handful of sweetened coconut I added) and LOVE it. I've had it as a cereal, I've added it to yogurt, I've eaten it solo as a snack. I just can't eat enough of this stuff. It is a great way to use up the left over bits of nuts (or coconut!) from other baking/TWD projects. Healthy - tasty - easy. Can't beat it. If you've joined CEiMB after that was made, you'll definitely want to give it a try.

I'll be back with the regularly scheduled CEiMB recipe next week. Hope you all have a great weekend!

CEiMB: Oven Baked Onion Rings

Somehow this summer I have lucked out with the weather. Every time there has been something that I needed to bake, the last minute to do it (my normal time to complete these things) was the coolest part of the week. With gratitude my luck has held with this week's pick.

I was excited when I saw that Mare from Meet Me in the Kitchen had picked the Onion Rings. I do really love onion rings, and will pick them over fries most of the time. But I do dislike the kind that are simply soaked in grease and become so rich that you can only eat a few. So I thought this would be great.

Then I read the recipe. I must tell you that I never (truly never) buy potato chips. Occasionally I'll buy tortilla chips, but never potato chips. They simply aren't something I think about buying, plus I'm one of those "can't have just one" types of people. I did not want extras lurking about the house.

So I compromised and bought an individual bag and figured I'd just make part of the recipe. Who needs 4 servings of onion rings anyway? Plus I read the reviews online at the Food Network and I wasn't completely convinced I was going to love this.

I followed the recipe, but ran out of chips before I ran out of buttermilk mixture or rings. I supplemented what I had left with some panko. Results? Too much Cayenne in the original batch, not enough flavor in the panko batch. I think this recipe is a definite keeper, I could see (taste?) the potential in what I had. Perhaps the doctoring that Sara did with a downgrade in the cayenne is the way to go.

To sum up - not my favorite thing ever, but this definitely has potential. I'll have to give it a try again - hopefully the cooling trend in the weather will last!

PS - any "Torchwood" fans out there? I'm late posting this week due to my complete immersion into the 5 night series. Tonight was super intense -- I'm not sure my nerves will make it through tomorrow night's finale!

CEiMB: Aromatic Noodles with Lime-Peanut Sauce

I was very excited when MrsBethorama from Supplicious picked this recipe, as it was on the short list when I was trying to find a CEiMB pick. It looked flavorful and healthy and were it not for Father's Day, I probably would have picked it.

So much enthusiasm and happiness going into this week. I cut up all my veggies the night before while something else was cooking to speed up putting this together. I hate to admit this, but it was the first time I bought Sugar Snap Peas or Snow Peas. Now I'm a big fan. Since I'm not a big fan of whole wheat pasta I decided to try something else. I found some Rice Sticks at Trader Joe's that looked intriguing, so I gave them a try. I found them very delicious and perfect for this dish. I just love Trader Joe's!

I got a chance to use my still-relatively-new Cuisinart food processor, yay, and it all came together quite nicely. I cut the recipe by half, and the three servings I got seemed fairly small, but I didn't feel hungry after I ate the first one.

I liked this so much (by far my favorite CEiMB recipe to date) that I may bring one to work today even though my company is buying us lunch. Whatever they will feed us just won't be as good as this. This will definitely be going into dinner/lunch rotation soon.

CEiMB: Vegetable and Cheese Strata

First of all, let me thank any of you who cooked along with me this week. I was kind of surprised when my turn to pick came up so quickly. I won't be picking for Tuesdays with Dorie until sometime in 2011 or 2012 by my calculation. I spent a bunch of time looking at all the choices and tried to find something different yet tasty.

While putting this together I thought of those old Night of a Thousand Stars TV shows because this seemed like a Recipe of a Thousand Ingredients. A love all of the ingredients in the strata, which is why I picked it, but sheesh, there were a lot of them once it came time to do the prep.

I also thought about my Dad, since I picked this recipe thinking it would be good for Father's Day. This is the 5th Father's Day that has come and gone since my Dad died in 2004, and I can't say I miss him any less than I did on the first one. He was one of those quiet guys who everyone considered "just a NICE guy!" I said at his funeral that he'd give you the shirt off his back and then come back the next day saying he just happened to be in the neighborhood with these three other shirts and thought you might like them. Ridiculously smart despite little formal education, he had life smarts galore, and I sure do miss his insights on people and situations. He was almost never wrong when he sized up someone.

His last days made me understand the importance of food in nourishing the body and the soul - both of the person who eats the food AND the person who makes it. One of the very last things my Dad ate was a grits casserole I made for him. I fed it to him the day I brought it over. It was funny, I got talking to my Mom or someone and he'd tap my finger to let me know I was falling down on the job feeding him. He ate it later that week as well, and I can't tell you how special it is to me that I made something he like and it was the last real food he had. I've found a surprising amount of comfort in that these last 5 years.

Happily time does help you remember the good times, not just the bad ones, and between all the parental June holidays we have in my family (both my parent's were born in June - yes, two Gemini parents - I joke that I didn't have 2 parents growing up, I had 4 - plus their anniversary, plus Father's day) plus the photo project I just did for my Mom's 80th party I have a lot floating around in my memory banks. So although this recipe took a lot of prep time, it gave me a chance to do some sorting of those memories, which was nice. In the end, all you have is your memories of the people you love, whether they are in the great beyond or in the next state. That means you can spend time with them whenever you wish. I find that comforting as well.

As for the recipe itself, it came together pretty well. I think I've finally figured out the problem I've been having with cook times in my oven -- the clock in my kitchen is 10 minutes behind the clock in the living room. Since I usually have a sit in the living room after making something, this might explain my temporal confusion.

I made half the recipe, and thought it wasn't bad. It did need a little something, so I spent the day trying to sort out what it was. I figured I might have missed something in the process of dividing everything by two (I know - sad, isn't it?). Finally, I called on my Southern California Culinary roots and came up with the perfect solution.

Everything, especially eggs, taste better with a dollop of sour cream and some avocado. Heaven!

Thanks again for cooking with me, especially since I've been MIA lately. I hope you enjoyed this recipe, and that if you served it for Father's Day that the Dads at the table enjoyed it too.

For the recipe (I've run out of time to post it -- must dash off to work) click here.

CEiMB: Nope, not this week...

With most sincere apologies to Anonymous New York I did not make the Jambalaya this week. I intended to, really I did. I also intended to be recovered from the big party by now. Everything up to Saturday I estimated spot on. I just didn't even think about the "aftermath."

I'd post pictures from the party, either the 100 people having a great time or the great food I made with lots of help that was delish. Sadly, I took no pictures, so I have none to share. I'll try to solve that problem in the near future with another post. But for today, I'm still getting my life, and my kitchen, back to normal.

I'll be back with you all soon -- promise!

CEiMB: A funny thing happened on the way to Crispy Fish Fingers

I've been a little distracted lately. Okay, a lot distracted. Just came off of a huge project at work, and now I'm working on a huge project for next month -- I'm throwing a party for my Mom's 80th birthday. We're looking at about 100 people attending, many of them out-of-town relatives, and I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row for that. Just got tables and linens rented, now working on how to get the flowers to the location on time. You know the drill.

I tell you all this as a explanation for my "oops!" this week. I saw the "Crispy." I saw the "Fingers." What I missed was the "Fish." Somehow I got it in my head that we were doing the "Crispy Chicken Fingers" (page 200). Like I said -- Oops!

So enjoy the pictures, and I'll include the recipe below. Good to know the group hasn't made this one yet so I feel like I'm blazing a new trail rather than doing a rewind (it may not seem like a big consolation to you, but when blazing a new trail to stupidity it's nice to know the scenery will be new to everyone else).

These were tasty and super easy. The chicken was very moist and the texture was fried chicken-like, but the taste wasn't. But with the addition of the Honey-Mustard Sauce, it was really yummy!

Crispy Chicken Fingers

from The Food You Crave (p. 200)

1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut across into 1/2-inch thick slices

1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk

Cooking Spray

4 cups whole-grain corn cereal such as Corn Chex or corn flakes (I used regular corn flakes)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Honey-Mustard Sauce (recipe follows)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the chicken and buttermilk in a shallow dish, turning the chicken to coat it with the buttermilk. Cover and chill for 15 minutes. Coat two baking sheets with cooking spray.

Put the cereal in a sealable plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Transfer the crumbs to a shallow dish and season them with the salt and pepper. Dip each piece of chicken in the cereal to fully coat and arrange on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Leave the chicken on the baking sheets to cool slightly. It will become crispier.

Serve with the mustard sauce on the side.

Honey-Mustard Sauce

1/3 cup Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons mayonnaise

2 tablespoons honey

In a small bowl, stir together the mustard and mayonnaise until smooth. Stir in the honey.

CEiMB: Thai-Style Halibut with Coconut-Curry Broth

This recipe had elements I love (coconut) and elements I'm not a big fan of (fish, curry). I'm a little disturbed by my recent trend of "I'm not a big fan of......" in this blog, but on the other hand, I've definitely been pushing my culinary envelope this week.

I like shell fish much more than "real" fish, but if forced to have "real" fish halibut is one that I will pick. Curry isn't something I've had a lot of experience with, and only like if coconut milk is involved to tone down the taste and the heat. That said I had a good feeling about this pick, and was pretty excited to give it a try.

This was pretty easy to put together. I must confess I cheated by using a pre-cooked brown rice from Trader Joe's (at least it was organic!). The spinach I did fresh, and I used curry powder rather than the red curry paste. The curry powder I bought from the bulk area at my local Henry's so it only cost me 21 cents. I figured I wouldn't be out much if I hated it.

All the elements came together nicely and quickly, and I have to say I really liked it. Each individual element was okay, but I really liked all four elements blended together (the fish, rice, spinach and sauce). Together they were yummier than the sum of their parts.

Since I really should eat fish and brown rice more than I do, this is a sure bet to try again. Thanks to Liz over at Not So Skinny Kitchen for this week's recipe. Head over there for the recipe, or go to page 232 in "The Food You Crave" by Ellie Krieger.

CEiMB: Jerk Chicken with Cool Pineapple Salsa

As you can see I've joined the Craving Ellie in My Belly crew. Since all the cool kids are in the group, I wanted to join to (by cool kids I mean Pamela and Leslie and Cathy, to name a few). The food always looks good, and the reviews the same. Plus one can not live on desserts alone (as tempting as that may be). One of my goals is to do more cooking for myself, and to be mindful of what I eat (quality of ingredients, eating whole foods, not to mention quantity), so this seems to be just the thing to be "cool" and accomplish goals. During my stress shopping last week I added "The Food You Crave" to my Amazon cart. The book arrived on Monday and I've had some fun looking through it.

I must confess when I saw "Jerk Chicken" as the first recipe I thought about skipping it and waiting until next week to start. Anything super spicy, or medium spicy, or anything that even has a hint of spicy is too much for me. My dad, who I'm very much like in so many ways, could eat a jalapeno pepper whole and not even break a sweat. I break a sweat just looking at a jalapeno, let alone a scotch bonnet (which is ten million times hotter on the Scoville scale --okay, perhaps I exaggerate -- but not by much). I was going to try a bit of jalapeno, but ended up having everything else I needed at home, and simply did not want to stop at the store to buy one ingredient that I don't like very much.

One of the things I had were gigantic organic chicken breasts from Trader Joe's. They were large enough that I just pounded out one and cut it in half, and then halved the recipe to make two servings. This was tasty enough, and I really did like the salsa that goes with it, but I'm sure something was lost in the translation by leaving out the heat. Tasty, indeed, but okay.

I'm so looking forward to exploring this book. I definitely don't need another cook book, but I love the pictures, and the fresh ingredients, and the helpful hints inside. I think this will be fun. Plus I get to be in some pretty nice company.

Too bad I joined after Jen from Notes From the Table, who picked this week's recipe, headed to my home town. I could trade her a city tour or a ride to the Zoo for a taste of all those yummy treats she made for the trip. Oh well -- next time.

Thanks for allowing me to join CEiMB!