Tried something new - Good Table Freezer to Plate by General Mills

The other day I was walking through Publix, hunting Pokemon, when I spotted something new.

Good Table Freezer to Plate by General Mills.  There were four choices:  Lemon Garlic Herb Chicken, Southwest Chicken, Chicken Marsala, and Teriyaki Chicken.  I love Marsala, yet have yet to make it from scratch and have it be really good.  My main problem when I make it is trying to remember what kind of Marsala wine to buy.  Now I don't have to.

How easy is this meal?  Let me tell you....EASY!!!  Add water and frozen chicken to what is in the box, cover, bake and YUM!

I was pleasantly surprise by the Sodium content. Both my husband and I enjoyed the meal.  I think we will try some of the others in the near future.

Check them out here.

All things HUMMUS!

I used to think that hummus looked like flavorless baby food.  Whenever it was offered to me, I would turn my nose up at the tan mush.  One day, a coworker brought in homemade hummus with warm pita bread.  That is when my love of hummus began.

I really enjoy the Sabra brand of hummus. Their original is tasty but my favorite is the roasted red pepper flavor.  I have also tried the Publix brand hummus, which is very good.

How do I eat my hummus?  I love to eat it with slices of cucumber instead of chips or pita.  I love to spread it on my tortilla, add fresh spinach, some cooked chicken or turkey, and some feta cheese.  Roll it all up and delicious wrap.

One Halloween, I decided to make pumpkin hummus from scratch to bring to a party. I also took a ghost shaped cookie cutter and cut out shapes from tortillas and baked them.  Very tasty.  Here is the pumpkin hummus recipe.

Pumpkin Hummus

2 Tbsp tahini (if you can't find tahini, use creamy peanut butter)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground pepper
1 - 15 oz can pumpkin
1 can garbanzo beans
1 garlic clove chopped

Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth.

Recently my husband saw that Bush's Beans had put out a line of Hummus Made Easy. He bought some for me and tonight I tried it.  I have to say that it was very good. I made the Classic flavor with reduced sodium garbanzo beans. It was so good that I'm planning to go out and get a bunch of mix and beans to keep on hand in case of spontaneous party. 

If you think you don't like hummus, give it another try.  I'm glad I did.

Another great meal from the Ravenous Rhino food truck

Tonight we stopped at the Ravenous Rhino food truck for dinner.  This is our second visit to this fantastic restaurant on wheels.  Mike had the Hogzilla burger, which is stuffed with bacon and cheese.     He happily ate it before I could get a picture.

I had the pulled pork sandwich (above) with their granny smith apple coleslaw.  It was the perfect meal.  I'm so happy that we stumbled upon this food truck and write about it here.

You really MUST try them.

Trying new things

I love to try new recipes.  Earlier this month, Chef Warren Caterson come to the library where I work and did a cooking demonstration.  I have both of the chef's cookbooks Table for Two: The Cookbook for Couples and Table for Two: Back for Seconds. Because of Chef Warren's visit to the library, I became brave enough to cook some tuna steaks.  Pan-seared Tuna Steak with Sesame Oil was the recipe I tried.

Not only was this delicious for me, but my husband who doesn't eat fish, ate it and said he would like to add this to our dinner rotation.

Thank you Chef Warren Caterson for the inspiration.

What could possibly entice me to post after four and a half months of silence?

A FOOD TRUCK!!!

I recently read an article in the Charlotte Sun newspaper about food trucks.  One food truck, in particular, caught my eye. It is called The Ravenous Rhino.

Today we were out and we spotted the food truck in the parking lot at PetSmart in Port Charlotte. My wonderful husband, Mike, pulled over and let me check it out.  As soon as I looked at the menu, I knew what I wanted.  Sanibel Crab Cake Sandwich - Handmade been of blue and snow crab, fried & served on a toasted bun with lettuce, tomato, and Cajun tartar sauce. I took a picture of the deliciousness before I started to eat.

I can't express how delicious this sandwich was.  The spices that were mixed with the sweet crab made for a scrumptious crab cake.  The fresh bun was toasted and delicious.  The tomato, onion, and lettuce were fresh and crispy.  The pickles were dilly.  The Cajun tartar sauce, which is made to order, was heavenly!

Here is a peek at today's menu:

If you are out and about and see the Ravenous Rhino truck, take the time to stop.

Baked hard "boiled" eggs - time saver or mess maker?

Happy New Year to all!

My husband, Michael, and I have decided that we are starting to eat healthy and exercise more.  Since he is working today, I am at home watching the Food Network.  One of the tips I picked up today was  hard cooking eggs by baking them instead of boiling them.  Since I was planning to hard boil some eggs today, I decided to try it.

I preheated the oven to 325 F, put 12 eggs into my muffin tin.  I baked the eggs for 30 minutes and then put them into ice water for 10 minutes.  I had one egg that broke in the oven, but it didn't make a mess.

Here are my thoughts on this method of hard cooking the eggs:

1.  The eggs get a dark mark on them where they touch the muffin tin. This mark goes through into the egg white.  Not appetizing at all.
2.  The eggs are NOT easy to peel.  I have a bunch of egg that are missing most of their whites because they did not peel nicely.  What a mess!!
3.  It was easy.  I may have to play with this idea a little bit to figure out how to get the dark mark to not happen.

Hope everyone is doing well!