Green Cookies with Green M&M's

So, no picture, but I really did make these cookies. All I did was add a couple drops of green food coloring to a store bought bag sugar cookie mix(gasp!) and add some green M&M's. Then, I had to add a bunch more drops of food coloring.

So, picture with me if you will, rather flat, buttery green cookies. Sprinkled with green M&M's. Aunt Turah makes them a little bigger than regular cookies, so they are HUGE and just a pale green. Can you see them?

I made them for my nephew and sister when they came for spring break on St. Patrick's Day...Also known as the Chaos of the Spring. It was a good time:)

I really did make this Kale...

So, no picture, but I did make this Kale recipe from Bobby Flay called Sauteed Kale Recipe. It was edible. I kept thinking how good it was for me, but I didn't LOVE it. And my husband only took one bite. I went to a farmer's market today and they told me to make Kale or Mustard Greens with bacon grease and onions...I will have to try that I guess:)

Crispy Lemon Cod Fish

I bought some WILD cod a couple weeks ago and consider it green because it wasn't farm raised!!

I found this Crispy Lemon Cod Fish recipe...not on Food Network!! I thought, really? It appeals to kids? But boy does it!! The video speaks for itself. She tried to drink the lemon sauce...

Layed Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo-Cilantro Sauce

When trying to come up with things to make for this challenge, I thought this would be a good excuse to make some good enchiladas. I did a regular search and found this recipe on page two of my google results.

It was "layered" to make assembly easier. SOLD!

Although there were a lot of little steps to put this together, it still is a pretty simple recipe. I though the tomatillo sauce was great.



The only change I really made was to add some chedder cheese. The recipe calls only for fresh mozerrella, but I only bought half of the needed amount. I thought the chedder cheese added some extra flavor. Also, I used all of the sauce in making the enchiladas.

The recipes instructs you to make it in a 9 x 13 pan. I never make anything in a 9 x 13 pan. I always break it up into 2 and freeze one.



I thought this turned out pretty good....maybe it needed a bit more salt. I served it with refried beans and chips. Chips because I felt it needed something.

Green Rice

I remember watching Rachel Ray or someone make green rice one time. I thought this challenge would be a good excuse to actually make it. When I looked up the recipe, most of the ones I found didn't really sound good, or sounded like more than I wanted to do. So, I just made some regular long grain rice and added some spinach pesto.

Spinach pesto

2 cups spinach
1/2 lemon
1 garlic clove
handful of parm cheese
salt and pepper
toasted almonds
- mix in food processor. Drizzle in olive oil until desired consistancy.

I used most of this in 2 cups cooked rice. The rice turned out a nice green color and Mark said the liked it. The kids picked at it. I served it with orangy oatmeal chicken tenders.

Green Pops

I turned the green smoothie into a frozen pop. Not really a 'recipe' per se, more like add-whatever-I-have-fresh/frozen-and-blend.

Today's concoction: frozen mango, strawberries, bananas, plain yogurt, orange juice

and spinach. Blend, pour into molds, freeze and serve!

The kids LOVE them. See those smiles?

Thai Green Curry

So, Turns Out that Emeril has a whole line of Green Recipes!!! One that jumped out at me was this one for Emeril's Thai Green Curry. Probably because I made B take me to a pseudo Thai place and he went on and on about the Curry. I did add some pork to this recipe because my husband is actually pro-meat. I also added some mushrooms and tomatoes when I added the broccolli:)


This is my bowl...



And B's bowl...

Which looks better? No really, we were contemplating who takes a better picture. I guess it is "green" because of all the veggies( and I did buy organic) and the green curry paste.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Swiss Chard

I made this recipe from FoodNetwork.com. I figure it counts since it contains Greens as a major ingredient. I only used one head of Swiss Chard (since that was all I had) and omitted the olives, since, well, I HATE olives.

I really liked it, as did the Hubs. I think the pine nuts and parmesan are really important to the finished dish. The kids weren't the biggest fans. Swiss Chard has a slightly bitter and almost anise-like taste and it didn't suit their palate. I ended up serving them plain pasta with some olive oil and parmesan cheese.

I'll make this again. It tasted light and different from the ultra-tomato pasta dishes that I make often.

Wearin' o' the Green Muffins

The pictures don't do this one justice, but trust me, they are GREEN!



I was going to make these for James's snack for preschool, but I decided at the last minute that I just couldn't. There was nothing really healthy about the muffins. They are made with pisachio pudding mix and that is what gives them the green color. I ended up making these for playgroup the next day. Most people really seemed to like them. The kids were not enamored with the "green" muffins as you would think they would be, but they liked them because they tasted good. I do think that maybe the oven temp was a bit high, resulting in too much browning. And if I made them again, I would leave out the chopped pisachios. It just didn't go with the rest of the muffin.

Here is James trying to show how green these were on the inside. Again, you just can't tell...

"Green" Potatoes

I normally don't do this. These "green" potatoes are actually Kale and Potatoes Puree that I posted in July. I made them on Sunday, Feb 28th. BUT THEY ARE SOOOOO A GREEN FOOD!!! We had leftovers on Wednesday, and I decided to count it. COUNT IT! Again, these are sooooo good. I served it here with a turkey meatloaf.

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

I am making an effort to eat healthier and introduce some richer, leaf-ier greens into our dinners. Once I tried a baby bokchoy kale thing...it was gross, but this Spinach Salad was pretty good. The picture above is my salad, made just like the recipe. The one below the recipe is my husband's salad. He really likes a wilted spinach salad, so I sauteed his salad for about 30 seconds-1minute.

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Prep Time:

20 min

Inactive Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

--

Level:

Easy

Serves:

4 servings

Ingredients

• 8 ounces young spinach
• 2 large eggs
• 8 pieces thick-sliced bacon, chopped
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 large white mushrooms, sliced
• 3 ounces red onion (1 small), very thinly sliced

Directions

Remove the stems from the spinach and wash, drain and pat dry thoroughly. Place into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Place the eggs into an electric kettle and cover with cold water by at least 1-inch. Turn the kettle on. Once the water comes to a boil, the kettle will turn itself off. Leave the eggs in the water for 15 minutes. Remove and peel off the shell. Slice each egg into 8 pieces and set aside.

While the eggs are cooking, fry the bacon and remove to a paper towel to drain, reserving 3 tablespoons of the rendered fat. Crumble the bacon and set aside.

Transfer the fat to a small saucepan set over low heat and whisk in the red wine vinegar, sugar and Dijon mustard. Season with a small pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper.

Add the mushrooms and the sliced onion to the spinach and toss. Add the dressing and bacon and toss to combine. Divide the spinach between 4 plates or bowls and evenly divide the egg among them. Season with pepper, as desired. Serve immediately.

MARCH Challenge- Going GREEN :)

So I just tried to call Kerri to run this idea by her, but she didn't answer.....So, blame her if you don't like it (why does she even have a cell phone if she is not going to answer it?:)

March = St.Patrick's Day= Green...

Let's try and cook things that are green this month. Interpret that as you will, but I got the idea from Michelle who does a Pink and Red dinner for Valentine's Day. Be creative and let's get some good recipes that are GREEN. Some ideas found here, here, and here.