Zucchini Risotto

I found this risotto recipe in one of the Martha Stewart cookbooks but didn't like how she did it so I made a bunch of changes.  The original recipe is in, "Food Everyday From the Kitchen of Martha Stewart Living, Great Food Fast, page 70".  This is now one of Kirks and my favorite recipes because its so light and healthy but super filling.

Here is my version:

1 large can of reduced- sodium chicken broth (i think its 22 ounces or something like that)
2.5 C water
1 T butter (when I make it for my parents I use alot more butter because my Dad likes the risotto really really creamy)
a little bit of fat free half and half (again, just depends how creamy you want the risotto)
3 large zucchini cut into cubes
lemon pepper seasoning (i use the no sodium Mrs. Dash one)
salt and pepper
1 medium size onion chopped
1 whole garlic chopped
1.5 C arborio rice
1/2 C dry white wine
shredded Parmesan cheese that you get in the deli section
1-1.5 bs ground turkey meat
garlic and onion powder
ravens powder (i get it in the land of poop at Savemart in the meat section.  If anyone needs it, I will get it for you guys because this stuff is amaze-balls!)

1. Heat the broth and 2.5 C water in a saucepan over low heat; keep warm. 

2. In a pan, saute some of the garlic.  Add the ground turkey meat and season with the garlic powder, onion powder, and ravens powder.

3.  Spray a 3 qt sauce pan with Pam.  Add the zucchini and season with salt, pepper, and lemon pepper seasoning.  I cook it until it's not quite done because the zucchini will be over the heat again and will finish cooking later.

4.  Transfer the zucchini into a bowl or plate and set aside.  In that same pan, add the onion, more garlic, and more salt and pepper.  Saute for about 5 min on low-medium heat. 

5.  Raise the heat to medium and add the rice.  Cook until the rice is translucent around the edges (make sure you stir constantly); this will take about 3-5 minutes.  Add the wine and cook until absorbed

6.  Cook the rice, adding 1 C hot broth at a time (stir lots and wait until mostly all the liquid is absorbed before adding more hot broth).  This whole process takes about 30 min.

7.  Add the meat to the rice mixture and let simmer for a couple minutes.  Add the zucchini back to the mixture and a little bit of fat free half and half (just add enough to get the creamy texture you want.  When I make this for my parents, instead of half and half, i use butter).

8.  Plate the dish and top with Parmesan.

I feel like this is a recipe that you can play around alot with and switch it up.  The next time I make it, instead of using ground turkey meat, I am going to try using shrimp.

Crispy baked pork chops with parmesan

I am so excited to have the blog back up and running because I have tons of recipes that I want to post!  The first one is one that I came across in Women's Day magazine, February 2013 titled, "Healthier Recipes from the Deens".  As you gals know, i typically don't eat any kind of meat aside from chicken, hamburgers, turkey, and oscar meyer hot dogs, but since I hate depriving Kirky of meat I have been going out of my comfort zone.  This was a recipe that I was assuming I would be making just for him, but when I tried it, it was so delish that I had a whole pork chop!  Here it is:

1/4 C all purpose flour
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/4 tsp cayenne, Kosher salt (i used sea salt), and pepper
1 large egg plus 1 large egg white
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1.5 C panko bread crumbs (I used Italian seasoning ones)
1/2 C fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 C grated Parmesan (I used the shredded parm that you get in the deli section)
2 tsp olive oil (i used garlic olive oil)
4 1-in. thick bone in pork chops ( I used boneless)

1.  Heat oven to 425.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place a rack on top.

2.  On a plate, combine the flour, garlic powder, celery seed, cayenne, and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper.  In a shallow bowl, whisk together the egg, egg white and mustard.  On a second plate, combine the panko, parsley, Parmesan, and oil.

3. Coat the pork chops in the flour, then in the egg mixture (letting any excess drip off) and finally in the panko mixture, pressing gently o help adhere.  Place on the rack.

4.  Roast the pork chops until cooked through, 20-25 min. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

This was so easy to make and so delish!  When I was coating the pork chops with the panko mixture, I really did a heavy coating so that it would be really crispy.  Hope everyone enjoys!

Three Ingredient Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hey Gals!

Thanks Meliss for rekindling our romance with this Pan Pals Blog.  Excited to bring it back in action and share yummy recipes again!

I recently told Kimmy about these healthy cookies I made and she asked for the recipe.  Thought this would be a great time to share them with her and you guys now that we want to bring this 'ol blog back!

I recently came across a 3-ingredient cookie on Pinterest but I cannot find the Pin:( I did find the exact same recipe here though: http://www.girlplusfood.com/three-ingredient-banana-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies/) and thought I would share. The recipe is BEYOND easy-- prep time was maybe 5 minutes and the cookies are super healthy and delish.

You just need:

- 2 ripe bananas

- 1 cup of quick oats

- 1 cup of chocolate chips ( I used mini chocolate chips)

Preheat the oven to 350*.  Smash the bananas in a bowl and then mix in oats.  Once everything is evenly mixed together, fold in the chocolate chips.  Place a spoonful of the mixture about an inch apart (these cookies won't spread when they are baking!) on a greased cookie sheet (The original recipe I found said to grease the cookie sheet but I just put foil down.  The cookies stuck pretty badly to the foil so I wouldn't go that route!).  Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Results are healthy and sweet:).  Recipe makes about 12-15 cookies.

Butternut Squash

Hi Friends!

I made a delicious recipe tonight and wanted to share.

Butternut Squash

Peel and cut into cubes about 1 x 1

I steamed in the microwave because our pan was being used to boil eggs.

Put in a bowl, add 5 tablespoons of water. Cover and cook for 4-5 mins on high.

Put it into a skillet lightly coated with olive oil.

Chop walnuts (about 1/4 cup) and add walnuts to skillet. Sprinkle squash with cinnamon.

Viola! Delicious!

Cute Website!

Hi Pan Pals! (or probably just debbie since we are pretty much the only ones trying to keep this blog alive),

I came across a super cute blog-based BAKING website today. There are a ton of cute cookie ideas as well recipes for other delish occasions. I love how the blog author uses a ton of pictures for every single step of each recipe. Plus, everything about the site is cutesy so I automatically love it.

The blog is called Baking at 350.

Arriba! Arriba!

Ok I know this is a pretty basic recipe, but still I wanted to use our website since it has been sorely neglected lately!

Who has a delish recipe for 7 layer dip?

BIG OVEN

Hello fellow bakers/makers/shakers/and fakers!

Not sure anyone has been using this or cooking, but just in case I wanted to share a website that I have been using lately. It's called bigoven.com. You can go on there to find recipes which are all rated by website subscribers (like me!) using a 5-star system. I made some amazing chocolate chip cookie bars that had a 5-star rating and were delicious! There are pics and comments to read from cooks like us! Sometimes I read the comments and get some pointers about that particular recipe that I am making (i.e. what oven temp works better, what to add to make a dish spicy or sweeter, etc.). fun website to check out. I also have the app on my phone:)

ENJOY!