Gnocchi and Spinach Bake

I apologize for not posting reguarly. To say life has been busy is an understatement.

Lately, I've cooked very little and well, when I do it's nothing to write home about. Job #1 and Job#2 are both insane. And my to-do list is almost three pages. To make matters worse, I'm taking off for a business trip on December 3. Conference food and room service. I can hardly wait.

So, I'll do my best to be better. Next week I have a couple of things planned. I'm hoping to have time to follow through.

In the meantime, here's the Gnocchi and Spinach Bake I made a few weeks ago for the boyfriend and I. It's hard to make an actual assessment of the recipe. I didn't make the gnocchi out of ricotta. I used frozen potato gnocchi instead. Oh, and I forgot to season it. Oops. The boyfriend still like it, though.

Bacon Rice Bowl

In my attempts to eat Core (it lasted only two weeks by the way), I found this recipe for a Bacon Rice Bowl. It sounded decent enough, in theory. And it was Core if you cut back on the oil and used brown rice. But it was a lot like a half-cooked tabbouleh. Not my favorite thing ever. The tomatoes and bacon were good, though. I left out the lentils, but I doubt they would have helped.

Corn Cakes with Apples and Sausage

A few weekends ago, I tried to make my own sausage. Healthier sausage. I used Penzey's sausage spice, but added it into ground turkey. The sausage tasted like sausage, but note to the wise: Extra lean ground turkey breast does not a good sausage make. I knew this much, of course. Fat=tasty. In just about every instance I can think of. But fat does not look so great when I'm wearing it. And I was attempting to do Core, and sausage is not Core.

The Corn Cakes with Apples came out to 11 points, so I was looking to lighten the point load by making my own bulk sausage using Core ingredients. I later learned that regular lean ground turkey is also Core, which would have made a much better sausage, although maybe still not a good sausage.

The actually corn cakes were good. The apples were just, eh. If you wanted to make the corn cakes core, you could just fry up some polenta in canola oil. Tasted just about the same, actually. But I think I'd just spend the points on the pancake variety, truthfully.

A decent enough breakfast, but not my best.

Barley-Mushroom Soup

It has gotten really cold really quick. I actually broke down last night and turned on the heat because my thermostat was showing that it was below 65° in my apartment. Probably less in the bedroom and living room because of the heat zapping windows.

The Mushroom-Barley Soup was one of my better ideas this month. Cold winds and sleet=soup weather. And barley is a fiberlicious grain. that fills me up at lunchtime. About 1 cup of pearl barley cooked gives you 3.5 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber. Less protein that brown rice but it has nearly double the fiber. The recipe is Core, so I really didn't need to mess with it, but I did, of course. I added two cups of shredded rotisserie chicken just for some more bulk. And I added more veggies, too. Yum. Veggies.

It's best the day you make it, though. The barley tends to absorb the liquid making it less of a soup and more of a stew. Tasted great to me anyhow.

Penne Pumpkin Pasta

Every Thursday I don't work is a stay-in date night for the boyfriend and I. Because I work two jobs, it's hard to find time for a romantic evening of sorts. I save my points for date night in and I make a full fat and calorie recipe without changing a thing. And, we open a bottle of wine.

Last week's date night featured Penne Pumpkin Pasta and a bottle of Chianti. I also made a green salad with a basic vinaigrette. The pasta was great. The sage and the pumpkin was an awesome marriage of flavors and the chicken broth added an extra layer without being chicken-y tasting. And surprisingly the cinnamon and nutmeg weren't overwhelming. I used a 100% whole wheat penne, but I would definitely do a whole wheat blend or even use regular pasta. The 100% whole wheat was too "crunchy" almost. I guess crunchy implies that it was undercooked, but it wasn't that kind of crunchy. Maybe chewy? I'm not sure how to describe it other than to say it probably wasn't the best choice on my part.

Otherwise I will be making it again. It's actually mostly Core. You'd really only have to count points for the cream if you didn't use regular parm. Of course, you could use FF parm, but I'm against it, so I spent the points to make it worthwhile. YUM.

Broiled Salmon with Parmesan Grits

Grits are something I've never thought to try. I'm not even sure I knew what they were before I had them. I thought it was like a hot cereal like cream of rice or cream of wheat. But earlier this year when I tried Core for the first time, I had to be more creative with what grains I cooked. Grits was one of the first that I tried.

And let me tell you, when mixed with parmesan and mushrooms... YUM. The salmon in this dish isn't bad, either, but those grits are a standout. I spent the point to use real Parmigiano Reggiano. It was well worth it.

If you're looking for new grains to try or just love salmon, I would definitely suggest the Broiled Salmon with Parmesan Grits.