| TeeniBikini
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Okay - I have been getting bored with my food lately, so I had to do something. I don't have what you would call a "friendly" relationship with the kitchen - in fact, we're mortal enemies. But I was desperate! So, I went to the SB Century Club and found a few interesting recipes in the "Extra Easy" area and printed off a few.
Last night, I tried three of them and figured I'd give my report, in case someone else can find it helpful.
Cheese "crackers" - The instructions say to cut up a cheese stick and lay the pieces out on a piece of parchment paper, microwave on high for however long it takes them to stop sizzling. The problem I had with that is that microwaves have hot spots, so some of the pieces turned into a "cracker" quickly, and some were barely melted. The second time, I tried to put all the pieces in the hot spots, so they would all cook the same and it turned out a little better.
As hard as it may be to believe, these taste exactly like cheese that has been burnt to a crisp in a microwave. Somehow, I was honestly not expecting that. Yep - believe it or not, it took me by surprise.
I like the idea of it, but I think I'm going to try it in the oven next time and see if (by some miracle) it's better.
Broccoli cheese soup - I got all confused with this one. First, I don't know how to figure out what a pound of broccoli is, so I just cut up the three crowns I had and threw them in the pot. Apparently, it was too much because the chicken broth I poured in disappeared in the bottom. I know enough about food to know that soup has to be soupy....so I added some water - I don't even know how much. Then I added two cans of Rotel - this is where things started to go bad. I've never had spicey broccoli cheese soup before....the chili peppers in it give it an unexpected kick....but, I live in cajun country and I'm used to very spicey food, so I guess it will do. Once again, I was expecting a different flavor from this - but let's proceed. I followed the instructions and let it come to a boil, then simmer for forty minutes. Then the recipe says to add 4 to 5 ounces of light velveeta. So I did. What I had on my hands, at that point, was a giant pot of spicey hot broccoli water, with a milky appearance. I added another four ounces of velveeta and it did very little damage. I kept adding velveeta until it looked like it was supposed to look.....turns out, it takes the whole block of veveeta (in my case, anyway).
The soup is good (if you like imagining that it was cooked in hell). I'll probably make it again, but I'll leave out the chilis next time.
Cheesy Salsa Chicken - I followed this recipe as closely as I could, and it turned out great. I think I'm going to cut the chicken into cubes next time though, and make it more like a casserole. I had this with black beans last night....it was really good. |
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Wed May 21, 2008 3:11 pm |
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| DebbyC
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| teeni, I like to make my cheese crisps on top of the stove or in the oven. [IMO microwaves are for popcorn and boiling water!] I just put shredded cheese in a nonstick pan on fairly low heat - it takes a while, but you'll have better flavor and texture IMO -I like to use the reduced fat shredded Mexican or Italian cheese blends, or the good shredded parmesan cheese [not the green can!] they are really good with soup |
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Wed May 21, 2008 3:17 pm |
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| TeeniBikini
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| Thanks, Debby.....for sharing that with me AFTER I ate the kevlar which came out of my microwave last night. :wink: |
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Wed May 21, 2008 3:40 pm |
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| DebbyC
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sorry, I forgot to tune into your brain waves - I would have stopped you! but kudo's for trying new recipes. I've just been throwing things in pans lately. I may have to look up the cheesy chicken recipe.
If anyone has an Albertson's nearby - they have chicken breast on sale for 1.88/# [boneless/skinless] and bone-in for 99/# I may do some chicken freezer stocking! |
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Wed May 21, 2008 4:03 pm |
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| Ditdah
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Teeny, I LOVE the cheese crisps in the microwave, but I don't have the "hotspot" issue in mine - I could see where that would be a problem! I put the cheese stick in for one minute, and they get just barely golden in my micro. There are usually a few little spots that are still almost white. But it's definately not for everyone.
The one thing with the string cheese is that it's not as flavorful as some cheese. If you're willing to make them in the oven, parmesan cheese is WONDERFUL. It has a much better texture and more of a complex flavor. You can also add seasonings to them to change the flavor.
I have to say, though, I am one of those people that always eats the burnt cheese off the foil when I get a sub, so it's right up my alley. |
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Wed May 21, 2008 4:30 pm |
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| LaceyL
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Another vote for trying them in a pan- they cook very evenly that way and dont taste burnt.
Where are the recipes? I would like to look at the broccoli cheese soup. |
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Wed May 21, 2008 5:52 pm |
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| mrszmom
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TB,
The kitchen and I aren't real close in this house either. I made
President's Chicken last night. It was easy and quick and well
received. And best of all it didn't taste like kevlar at all! ;)
MrsZ |
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Wed May 21, 2008 6:13 pm |
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| TeeniBikini
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Ditdah, I think my microwave may have been on too high of a power setting because the first batch I made were done in about 20 seconds, and they were too burnt to eat. I took the second ones out before that, and they were already brown. I think I'm going with the convection oven from now on. The radiation method of heating up food has never been my favorite.
Lacey, this is the website ttp://www.southbeachcenturyclub.com/index.php - I can't remember who, but someone else here gave it to me. There are some really good ideas on there, but I have to stick with the simple stuff. I'd be better off if all SB food came in a can and only required heating. :oops:
mrszmom, did you find the president's chicken recipe on that site? I'm up for no more kevlar! :P |
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Wed May 21, 2008 7:16 pm |
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| mrszmom
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| I found the Presidents Chicken recipe here in the recipe section. |
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Thu May 22, 2008 1:43 am |
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| TeeniBikini
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| I tried the cheese crackers in a convection oven last night, and they are better than the microwaved ones. I tried a couple different kinds of cheese too, and that definitely makes a difference. I don't like string cheese - I don't know why I thought burning it in the microwave was going to improve the flavor. :roll: |
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Thu May 22, 2008 2:48 pm |
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| LaceyL
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This thread inspired me to try it, and I absolutely love it! Like anything, I made some adjustments.
I used the directed amount of chicken broth and broccoli, and I also added some fresh chopped broccoli. For the first bit while it simmered, I put a lid on it so that none of the liquid was lost to steam. The broccoli cooks down in to the stock. I used Velveeta and a bit of another cheese with more than the approved amount of fat, since this was my only fat with this meal. I seasoned it up with garlic powder, dried mustard, lots of black pepper and some salt, and then i used my immersion blender to blend up the veggies just a bit.
Thanks for the inspiration- it is fantastic! |
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Fri May 23, 2008 2:47 am |
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| recipelover
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We have a great section of recipes right here on this board. The site mentioned above is good, but here we have some great cooks who have posted recipes over for 4-5 years now. They are in the Recipe and Food area of this board and I even created a sort of table of contents to those great recipes.
President's Chicken, the cheese crisps and more are listed there. And, people make comments and make changes to them as well. Click here in my signature line to get to the recipe summary and scroll all the way down to see how I have everything arranged. I also have links to the Favorite recipes that people have used, links to helpful information and links to other SB sites along with links to our great recipes over the years.
For sure for those of you are just learning to like being in the kitchen--try the 5 can bean soup recipe (I use 6 cans for even easier soup). Here is the link to that recipe, but also go to my recipe summary and just look around.
5 (or 6) can bean soup: http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18653 |
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Fri May 23, 2008 12:43 pm |
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| AleciaBneedstobefreed
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| I tried alot of the "tried and true" recipes posted here when I first started. It helped me alot. I was kitchen illiterate. |
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Fri May 23, 2008 1:03 pm |
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| Ditdah
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Most of our "regular rotation" meals and snacks since I've started came from here:
Inside-out brussel sprouts
mixed-up casserole (we make the higher fiber version)
thai crockpot chicken
enchilada chicken stew
buffalo chicken salad
bean cakes
cheese crisps
orange dreamsicle cake
Woah - I guess we eat a lot of chicken! |
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Fri May 23, 2008 1:08 pm |
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| TeeniBikini
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I have a little trouble finding what I'm looking for on this site, as far as recipes go. Sometimes I just need to browse through them and see what sounds good. I like the way the century club list is organized (as in, they have the "extra easy" list especially for the kitchen illiterate among us). :)
I'm going to check out recipelover's links. Hopefully there's a "kindergarten chef" section there also. Five bean soup sounds good to me! :wink: |
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Fri May 23, 2008 2:48 pm |
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