Category: Blog My Meal Challenge

Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Bacon, Tomatoes, Ranch and Pickled Onions along with Blueberry Bourbon Grilled Chicken (deja vu)

This Meal Challenge had a lot of moving parts along with multiple recipes that we pulled from – all found and orchestrated by my wife. I happily went along for the ride. The potatoes and onion recipes were both pulled from Jessica Merchant’s website – How Sweet Eats. I wrote about the website during Meal Challenge #4, which ended up being a recipe that we probably won’t be having again any time soon. However, I knew that we’d be revisiting Jessica’s site because she really has some great recipes and a wonderful newsletter, too! Now, the Blueberry Bourbon part for the grilled chicken was actually the leftover sauce from Meal Challenge #5, which were used on the wings. Nothing really fancy with what was done with the grilling for today’s chicken, but I will still explain below later. Like the other challenges, simply click on the recipe title for the link (for this challenge – links) of what was borrowed (adapted?). As always, I’ll lay out what we followed as well as the changes that were made along the way.

Meal prep music was provided by Spotify with Lo-Fi Beats. This is a real chill playlist that was enjoyed inside during the prep time. However, when I was outside during grilling time, I did crank out the Audioslave on vinyl.

And, of course, there was beverage, but that will be shown later.

The Line-up (Ingredients)

QUICK PICKLED ONIONS

• 1 red onion thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

GRILLED SWEET POTATOES

• 4 medium sweet potatoes
• pinch salt and pepper
• 4 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• ¼ cup chopped herbs, like parsley, chives and basil
• pickled onions for topping

FRESH HERB RANCH

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup milk
• 3 tablespoons fresh chives or 1 tablespoon dried chives
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill or 2 teaspoons dried dill weed
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika

CHICKEN

• Chicken Breast (boneless)
• Salt & Pepper
• Blueberry Bourbon Sauce or whatever barbeque sauce is in the fridge

Game Plan (Instructions)

QUICK PICKLED ONIONS
1) Place the onions in a jar or cup.

2) In a bowl, whisk together the warm water, sugar and salt until the sugar and salt dissolve. Then, whisk in the vinegar.

3) Pour over the sliced onions. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour. You can obviously make this ahead of time and once made, store it in the fridge in a sealed container or jar. They last about one week.

GRILLED SWEET POTATOES
1) Preheat the grill to medium heat.

2) Wash and dry the sweet potatoes. Place them on the grill and close the lid. Cook for 35 to 40 minutes, turning them every 10 minutes or so. Note: if you don’t want the skin to get crunchy and blackened, just wrap them in foil. We put them directly on the grill.

3) While the potatoes are on the grill, get your bacon knocked out however which way you do it. Skillet? Microwave? Oven? Just do it.

4) This is also a good time to do the ranch. Take all the ingredients and simply blend them together until pureed and combined. Store in the fridge in a sealed container. This lasts for about a week and can be used in other recipes – hint, hint!

4) With about 15 minutes to go for the potatoes which were on one side of the grill, I then placed the chicken breasts (already salted and peppered) on the other side of the grill. I slopped on that Blueberry Bourbon Sauce and let them go for about 5 minutes. I then flipped them over and slathered them up again with the sauce before allowing them to grill for another 4 to 5 minutes. Always take an internal temperature of your chicken to make sure you hit around 165 F.

5) When the potatoes are done, slice in half. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Drizzle with freshly mixed-up ranch dressing. Top each with the chopped tomatoes, crispy bacon and a few pickled onions if you wish. Top with fresh herbs!

Blueberry Bourbon Chicken Wings

I love wings. In turn, I can guarantee that his won’t be the last wing recipe done during this meal challenge year. My wife knowing how much I love blueberries found this recipe for Blueberry Barbecue Sauce. Obviously, the sauce needed to be done first, so I’ll explain the sauce prep first, which will then be followed by the wing prepping.

We hit up Spotify again while for the tunes. This time I just wanted some fun, happy music, so we did the playlist: Summer 50s/60s Beat.

The Line-up (Ingredients) for the Sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, finely diced
1 shallot, minced
3 cloves garlic
3½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 large apple diced
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
½ cup strong black coffee
½ cup bourbon, (or substitute apple juice – ha, we used Maker’s Mark)
1 cup ketchup
½ cup apple juice (We used a Capri-Sun)
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
½ cup balsamic vinegar
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chipotle powder, (more or less to taste)
1 tbsp smoked paprika
½ tsp cinnamon

The Line-up (Ingredients) for the Wings
3 lbs of chicken wings
Salt and pepper for seasoning
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp hot sauce

Game Plan (Instructions) for the Sauce

1) In a medium sized sauce pan, heat oil and cook the onion, shallot and garlic over medium low heat until softened but not browned. Always put in the onion and shallot first. Garlic can cook (and burn) within 30 seconds.

2) Add all the other ingredients, stir well and simmer over low heat for about 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has reduced, the apples have softened and the mixture begins to thicken.

3) Let the sauce cool before pureeing until smooth in a food processor.

4) Store in airtight container in the fridge if you are using it within a week or so. Otherwise, freeze it in airtight containers. Also, properly preserving it in mason jars could make it last all summer.

So, that’s it for the sauce. We then borrowed our wing recipe from here.

Game Plan (Instructions) for the Wings

1. Mix together the sauce that we just made, honey and hot sauce and then set that bowl aside.

2. Season the chicken wings with salt and pepper, then grill them on medium heat until the skins are browned and they are almost cooked.

3. At that point, turn the heat down to about medium low and begin to brush on the honey barbecue glaze, continuously turning the wings and building layers of sticky sweet sauce. I coated them at least 3 times with the sauce while they were on the grill.
Serve immediately off the grill. Well . . . let ’em cool down slightly.

This was by far my most favorite meal that we have made so far during this meal challenge and definitely one of the meals that I was most proud of. I was just so happy to be a part of it, while enjoying the entire process and, yes, the final delicious outcome. This is a meal that we will be revisiting again and again! The bonus part is that we had so much of the sauce left over . . . the mealtime fun continues on into the next meal challenge!

Sun Dried Tomato & Sweet Corn Skillet Lasagna

Well, it’s been awhile “off”, but I’m back at it again. Meal Challenge plans were made but then swimming pools were offered and we visited. And then, the swim time visits trickled into dinner time visits at said swimming pool locations. AND – when delicious meals are offered, my family happily accepts. However, in the meantime, the Meal Challenge plans kept getting pushed back. Nevertheless, an open night was found!

Where I found this recipe is one of my favorite places to visit for ideas – Jessica Merchant’s website – How Sweet Eats. She does have a couple cookbooks available, but I truly enjoy her weekly (you can also pick “daily” when subscribing) emails. They are always inspiring and each of them always seems to have something new that I want to be trying. Now, after all that praise, I ended up not being too fond of our outcome (sorry – no spoiler alert). However, as you’ll see, we “shortcutted” some things and that’s probably what did us in. I mean . . . we all still ate the meal and it was in no way bad, BUT – we could have done a little better job of following the recipe. Like the other challenges, simply click on the recipe title for the link of what was borrowed (adapted?). As always, I’ll lay out what we followed as well as the changes that were made along the way.

Meal prep music provided by Spotify with their playlist, Bluegrass Junction. Lauren chose this “tunage” for the evening. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything nice to say here. Again, Lauren picked it.

And the beverage of choice for both pre-game and during:

The Line-up (Ingredients)

SUN DRIED TOMATO PESTO
1 cup packed basil leaves
1 7 oz jar sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup freshly grated Stella Parmesan Cheese
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
⅓ to ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

We totally cheated here and went with store bought pesto:

• 

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LASAGNA
8 ounces lasagna noodles, broken into thirds (another shortcut here and this is probably what did us in – we used oven ready noodles)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
4 ears corn, kernels cut from cob (we used fresh Jersey corn – important to say that – corn from New Jersey. That’s what I was taught.)
15 ounces ricotta cheese
1 (8 oz) ball Stella Fresh Mozzarella
1 cup freshly grated Stella Parmesan Cheese
1 handful basil leaves, for garnish

Game Plan (Instructions)

SUN DRIED TOMATO PESTO
Word for word – this is what Jessica’s website says to do. I’ve got nothing to add here because ours came from a jar: Combine the basil, sun dried tomatoes (and the oil from the jar), garlic, Parmesan, pine nuts, salt and pepper in a food processor. Pulse until combined. With the processor on, stream in the olive oil, starting with ⅓ cup. You may need a bit more depending on how much olive oil is in your jar of tomatoes.

LASAGNA
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil so you can cook the lasagna noodles. Cook them according to the package directions, but shave 1 minute off the cook time so the noodles are al dente. Drain the noodles once they are finished boiling. (Remember – ours were already done and “oven ready”). Heat an oven-safe 8 or 10-inch skillet over medium-low heat and add the olive oil. Add the shallots with a pinch of salt and pepper and stir. Cook until softened, about 3 minutes.

Next, stir in the corn kernels. Then, stir in the pesto. Take the noodles and fold them into the corn and pesto mixture in the skillet. Add on some spoonfuls of ricotta cheese and a few slices of the Stella Fresh Mozzarella, along with grated Stella Parmesan Cheese and, of course, save some for a topping! Make sure the noodles are all coated and then top with remaining sliced mozzarella and Parmesan.

Bake the lasagna for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove it from the oven and garnish with extra fresh basil. Serve!

Again, short-cuts were made because impatient and “starving” children were waiting. But – my wife and I still had fun putting together the meal and completely realize that if we would ever do it over again, we’d follow the original recipe. Lesson learned – maybe. 🙂

Bacon Spinach & 4 Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Third meal in and already I had no idea of what to choose for din-din. All my saved up recipes were not intriguing my significant other either, so I asked what upcoming meals that she had in mind. She mentioned this one and all I had to hear was Bacon. I’m in! Like the other challenges, simply click on the recipe title for the link of what was borrowed (adapted?). As always, I’ll lay out what we followed as well as a couple changes that were made along the way.

Meal prep music provided by Pandora and their 60s Oldies Radio. “Son of the Preacher Man” led it off – perfect.

The Line-up (Ingredients)
5 crispy bacon strips cooked

3 oz fresh spinach
1 large garlic clove
1 tbsp oil for cooking
16 oz whole baby bella mushrooms try to pick out larger mushrooms

4 oz cream cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 cup Italian cheese mix
Salt
Fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 cup Italian cheese mix for topping
2 crispy bacon strips crumbled, for topping

Game Plan (Instructions)

1) Preheat the oven to 350.

2) Wash mushrooms and remove any stems. Toss mushrooms lightly in olive oil and then set aside.

3) Preheat a small cooking pan and 1 tbsp of olive oil on medium heat.

4) Chop spinach and add it to the pan. Cook covered over medium heat until almost cooked. Mince garlic and add it to spinach. Dice bacon strips and add it to spinach as well. Mix well and cook until spinach is done. Take off heat.

5) In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, bread crumbs, cheese mix, egg, salt and pepper. Mix very well until all combined.

6) Add spinach and bacon to the cheese mixture. Keep it going until it’s evenly mixed.

7) Place mushroom cups into a baking dish. Carefully fill mushroom cups with cheese mixture pressing down lightly to squeeze in a little more.

8) Sprinkle each stuffed mushroom with a little bit of cheese and bacon.

9) Bake about 17-20 minutes.

I was happy with the outcome of this meal. The kids (age 11 & 4) were not the biggest fans and simply split one of the mushrooms. In all honesty though, I was very alright with that sine then I had the remaining one the next day on the road with work. AND – Delicious again!

Oh – we did have beverage during the making of this meal – here’s the warm-up (beer) and then the meal beverage (wine).

Cajun Maple Mahi Mahi

Originally, this meal was going to be played out on Sunday night (6/28), but then my wife wasn’t feeling it. That’s cool. She wanted to make Cobb salad and we would save the Mahi Mahi dinner for another night. Unfortunately, we probably should have “swam” with the fishes (weak, I know) for dinner. Since it wasn’t the meal challenge dinner, I did have other husband/daddy duties to attend to and simply left her alone to prep this meal. But then, she cut herself – twice. Call was made to the bullpen and I stepped in for a lot of the preparation. We joked that I should have done this one for the Challenge instead. ANYWAYS – the fish was planned for the following night. BUT – again there was a delay, but this time with work & family “FUN” (sarcasm) made us go with the quick and easy pasta & sauce for Monday night. For Tuesday (6/30), it was our anniversary night, so we ordered a special dinner from Ole Tapas – Mmmmmm. Finally, on Wednesday (7/1), the Meal Challenge #2 occurred.

The Line-up (Ingredients)
* 1/8 cup maple syrup
* 3/4 tablespoon Cajun seasoning (can use more or less depending on whether or not you want a sweeter or spicier meat)
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 2 Mahi-Mahi fillets

** That’s it for the ingredients, but then within the very first direction, they suggest to saute with some onions. So, go get yourself an onion. But then, my wife said, “Hey, let’s add some of our cherry tomatoes from the garden, so, you might want to grab a handful of them as well.

Game Plan (Instructions)

1) Mix all ingredients together except for the fish (and onions and cherry tomatoes). Spoon mixture over fish.

2) Briefly, saute the onion and cherry tomatoes together. They suggest cooking spray, but we used butter. It was at this point that I proudly stated, “Ooo – I can melt butter!” As my wife cut up the onions and cherry tomatoes, she then joked, “And, in six months, you can change the batteries in the fire alarm.” Nice, huh. She’s obviously referencing our beloved Christmas movie that we watch every Thanksgiving weekend – Elf.

I have to admit in the movie it mentions changing triple A’s, but since when? I only know the alarms taking the 9-Volt battery, which I believe keeps that part of the battery industry in business.

3) Add in the fish and continue the sauteing for about 3-5 minutes on the first side and 2-3 minutes on the second side. Add more of the syrup mixture if you want.

Recipe says: “Best served with rice” (but, we did couscous AND artichokes!)

Sadly, the linked recipe from above made this suggestion at the very end:

***Can also marinate fish for a few hours for maximum flavor.***

Thanks (more sarcasm). Nevertheless, here’s the final product!

Another side note – see that drink peeking in the upper right corner of the final picture. That was a concoction that my wife and I just randomly came up with (poor decision). For starters, we pitted some black cherries and tossed them in a blender. We then added vodka and blended away! We each had a glass of Butter Beer Soda aka butterscotch flavor soda. Our blended mix was then added to each of our glasses and stirred. Couple black cherries were tossed in as a final garnish. I wish I could say – “Mmmmmm”, but I can’t. In addition, I don’t know if I can even say “Mmmmmm” about the dinner, but maybe the drink was to blame. Nevertheless, I just want to be honest and state – neither one will occur in our kitchen again. Can’t wait for Meal #3!

Cuban Fish Tacos with Citrus Mango Slaw + Chipotle Lime Crema

First recipe challenge and I went with the longest name ever . . . don’t hold me to that, but it’s still pretty long. Click on the link above and you’ll see where this recipe was borrowed (adapted?). However, I’ll lay out what we followed along with a couple changes we made.

The Line-up (ingredients – not much changed from the original)

CUBAN FISH
1 pound skin on mahi mahi or salmon
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3 cloves garlic
2 green onions
1/4 teaspoon paprika and cumin
1 teaspoon salt + pepper
corn or flour tortillas warmed (we did the corn tortillas but probably would have enjoyed the flour ones more)

CITRUS MANGO SLAW
1 grapefruit
1 cara orange or blood orange
(no fun oranges, we rolled with a basic navel one)
1 mango sliced or diced
1 jalapeno seeded + chopped
1/3 cup cilantro chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup red cabbage shredded
salt to taste

CHIPOTLE CREMA
4 ounces cream cheese softened
1/4 cup Crema or mayo
2 in canned chipotle chilies adobo finely chopped
(instead of this, we used green chiles and adobo seasoning)
2 tablespoons buttermilk
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt and pepper to taste

Game Plan (Instructions)

Add the olive oil, lime juice, orange juice, garlic, green onions, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper to a blender. Blend until chunky smooth. Place the fish in a 9×13 inch baking dish, pour the marinade over the fish. Allow the fish to sit in the marinade while you prepare the rest of the meal, at least 15 minutes. Do not let the fish sit longer than four hours in the marinade.

To make the slaw/salsa, cut off the peel and the white pith from all around the grapefruit. Working over a small bowl, use the knife to cut between the membranes to release the grapefruit segments into the bowl. Squeeze the juice from the membranes into the bowl. Remove the grapefruit segments from the bowl and cut into bite size pieces; return to the bowl. Now do the same with the orange, but only remove the inside membrane if desired. Add the mango, jalapeno, green onions, cilantro and lime juice. Taste and season with salt. We went ahead and mixed in the shredded red cabbage here.

To make the crema, mix together the cream cheese, crema Mexicana (or mayo), chipotle chilies, lime juice, buttermilk and a pinch of salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Cover and place in the fridge until ready to use.
When ready to cook the fish, heat a grill pan or cast iron skillet over medium high heat (may also use an outdoor grill). Once hot, add the fish, skin side down, and sear for 3-4 minutes, brushing the fish with the marinade as it cooks. Flip and cook until your desired doneness. Don’t forget to remove the skin.

To serve, dice the fish into pieces. Warm the tortillas and fill with fish. Top with slaw, crema and shredded red cabbage (again, we actually added this already to the slaw itself). Sprinkle with cojita cheese if desired.