Jenny Garland

Hi, friends! Sorry my posts have been sporadic lately. I have been a little (okay, a lot) overwhelmed with balancing everything lately. Sara Paige is a wild woman these days and into everything. Did I mention her love of splashing in the potty if I forget to close the bathroom door? Gross.

Anyway, just the normal day to day has been crazy and I’m trying to find time for SYTYC, Moda Bake Shop, and projects for the girls. By the end of the day, I am completely wiped and can hardly remember what I did. Anyone else like that?

So, in an attempt to get more energy and feel healthier, I decided to do the Clean Detox Program (saw it on Martha). I’m on Day 3 (of 21) and so far, so good!

Except… can you believe they don’t allow Diet Coke on a detox program? Therein lies the challenge. I normally drink four or five cans of Diet Coke a day (I know, I know). But I love it. I dream of it. I miss it. Thankfully, the caffeine withdrawal headaches are going away.

Anyway, the point of this post was to share a “clean” recipe I had for lunch today that was so delicious and easy. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Salad Dressing:
2/3 cup EVOO (Evtra Virgin Olive Oil)
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp prepared dijon mustard
1 tbsp chopped garlic
2 tbsp chopped olives (about 10 kalamata olives)
black pepper, to taste

Pile this stuff in your food processor (I used a Bullet) and mix until smooth.  It will store in a jar for a few days in the fridge.

Drizzle dressing over spinach. You can add the almond-crusted chicken on top which is really, really good too. Together it’s a filling, healthy meal.

Almond-Crusted Chicken:

1/2 cup roasted, unsalted almonds
2 garlic cloves
3 tbsp EVOO                                                                                                                                                                      1/2 tsp sea salt

Process or bullet (is that a verb?) the above ingredients to make a thick paste. Rub onto 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves.

Roast for 15-18 min at 425.

Any tips to get more energy, peeps?

Let’s face it, the name “leek” isn’t that appealing. Sounds like “leak” or “eek” … neither of which is particularly appetizing.

Alas, I should not have judged Mr. Leek by his unfortunate name. For leeks, as it turns out are ABSOLUTELY fabulous.

I had a heck of a time finding them in the produce section this morning while trying to soothe a screaming baby on my hip. I thought I had grabbed them and then asked the produce man if the stuff I was holding were indeed leeks. He said “Nope. That’s bok choy.” Sigh. Thankfully, he showed me what they were:

They look like monstrous green onions.  Phyllis Grazer calls them “a kissing cousin of garlic and onion.” She’s right, although that’s a real creepy way to say it.

I cut ‘em up like this and rinsed them well because the suckers are sandy:

I have no clue if that’s how you’re really supposed to slice a leek, but it worked.

Why did I need leeks, you might ask? I needed them to make Pioneer Woman’s potato-leek pizza. It has homemade crust, bacon, red potatoes, mozzarella, goat cheese, and leeks. What’s not to love?

Let me tell you, it was so, so gooooooood. And you *know* I am not a savvy cook. Need I remind you of this?

I am a little obsessed right now with Ree’s cookbook (thanks for a super Christmas present, sis!). I made her olive cheese bread and enchiladas last week and amazingly, I didn’t screw ‘em up. They were yum-o. If you’re looking for easy, tasty recipes with step-by-step pictures for the culinary challenged like moi, this book is for you!

If you haven’t tried a leek yet, go get you some! And if you have tried them, do you have a recipe you’d like to share? I wanna get leeky with it.

So tonight’s dinner. Yeah. About that. This is how it went:

Bleh. I made three things: London Broil, popovers, and a salad with homemade Caesar dressing.

Let’s start with the steak. Okay, seriously. Where did I go wrong? The recipe said to broil my tenderized flank steak 4 inches from heat for 5 minutes. Then, I was supposed to turn the steak over and broil for another 3-5 minutes. I did 5 minutes on the first side and 4 minutes on the second side. I even measured to make sure the broiler pan thingy was 4 inches from the heat.  The steak was a rubbery mess. Edible? Kinda, sorta. Tasty? No. It tasted like a steak you would get at the Sizzler that was under the heat lamp all day. I snapped pictures but it turns out poorly cooked steaks are really gross to look at so I’m not going to make you suffer.

That’s okay though, because I still had opportunity to shine with the popovers, right? Here’s what my cookbook told me my popovers should look like:

Cute, right? I was feeling really optimistic as I put them in the oven, looking like this:

My optimism dwindled as I took them out of the oven looking like this:

You think that’s funkified? Wait until you see what they looked like after I popped them out of the ramekins:

What in the world? How is that even possible? My poor, pathetic, tumorish popovers They tasted good but were so fugly.

Finally, my salad. I used Dole’s Sassy Baby Blend:

I added tomato, orange bell pepper, croutons, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. So far so good. Enter homemade Caesar dressing. The recipe called for one tin of anchovies. I’ve never made Caesar dressing before so I didn’t think anything of it. Um, one tin of anchovies is way too much. After eating the salad, I smell like a fish died inside me. Not kidding.

Overall… solid effort, miserable results. I gave myself a C- because I think trying counts for something, right? We’re having leftovers tomorrow (wow, everyone is so excited about that in my house as you can imagine) and Thursday I’m going to try roasting a chicken. God help me.