Mushroom Risotto

A few weeks ago I bought a frozen meal of Mushroom Risotto by Amy's and it was really good. I couldn't believe something from a box could taste that good, but when it uses quality ingredients, the outcome has to be that good!

I found a recipe via Pinterest from Good Dinner Mom for an easy risotto and modified it to my liking. 

It's perfect that I made this entree on #MeatlessMonday which I have been wanting to do for a while. If you aren't aware, meatless Monday is something I found on Twitter that is a trend since 2003 to get people to cut meat from their diet one day a week and see that vegetarian eatin' ain't all that bad and actually good for you! 

I have never made Risotto before or cooked Arborio rice but after reading the recipe, it seemed easy enough. I must confess I used canned mushrooms because my fresh ones went bad before I could use them. (sad day) Honestly the flavor was still there. I drained and cooked them in the pan for a bit to rid more of the water and let them brown a bit.

I didn't have shallots but I did cut fresh chives from my flower garden (thank you previous owner for leaving those for me!) and used a small amount of sweet onion.

I used vegetable boullion stock to make the risotto but I'm sure chicken would work just as well. I had a local wine from Staller Estates Winery in Delavan/Whitewater that was used to cook the rice and drink with the meal. I highly recommend the Horizon Cuvée for this recipe. It's my second favorite, Estate Blanc is number one and is divine!

Ok - back to the risotto. It takes some time to add a little bit of the stock to the rice and wait for it to absorb and repeat until the stock is all gone but it's completely worth it. The flavor really makes the risotto flavorful.

I added some peas for additional flavor. The bag of peas exploded on me when I went to open it and my kitchen was polka-dotted green! Luckily I could salvage enough to use in the risotto.

Then it was time to add the butter and cheese. I didn't have fresh Parmesan so I used my pre-grated container that is usually exclusive for my popcorn snacks. But I decided I could spare some for this recipe.

Regardless of my frugal product choices (canned mushrooms, pre-grated parmesan and sweet onion) it was absolutely fabulous and I will make this again and again.

Please share your risotto recipes with me or good places in southeastern Wisconsin to try it. 

Move It Monday: 10k Training Begins

July starts today and we are officially half way thru 2013! I can hardly believe it.

Wisconsin was blessed with one of the most beautiful weekends of the year and I took full advantage.

View from my backyard on Friday evening.

Friday my grandma came over and Dad served up his amazing fish fry. We fry it outside so the house doesn't smell all fishy and the mess it kept outdoors. The fish was breaded in a cornmeal mix and the fries were lightly seasoned with Lawry's. We heated up the grill just to keep everything warm while more was frying.

Saturday, I walked the Summerfest grounds from end to end and only had to stop moving around 10 pm at Imagine Dragons. As you can read from here and here and here, no one was moving on the grounds! I also couldn't hear the band at all (straight back from the stage) and ended up making my way over to another side stage to actually hear music and move around. Didn't stay long enough to hear this one, (and I wouldn't have heard it anyways) but it sounds great and hope they come back to the BMO or Marcus Stage next year :)

Today, I spent some time out on the patio getting a little sun, and then decided to cook up a Skirt Steak from the #MKEFoodies picnic from last summer. It was from Red Meat Market and I highly recommend checking out their cuts. It got lost in the deep freeze (that I inventoried last weekend) and I'm glad I found it. I used this marinade on the skirt steak and to ribeyes and it was absolutely wonderful over a bed of greens. Seriously, try this marinade. So simple, yet sooooo good.

The grilled veggies were awesome as well. Used a little Penzey's Salad Elegant, EVOO and grill power to flavor up the potatoes.

 

Balsamic Vinegar, EVOO, salt and pepper on the zucchini. 

 

EVOO and Salad Elegant on the mushroom skewers. 

 

Finished product!

My parents went for a cruise yesterday and stopped at this Winery in Milton and of course they brought some home. The Pinot Noir was nice and mellow and perfect with the steak.

And then the real fun began....I started my 10k training for the Monster Quarter Marathon Run in Whitnall Park in October. I am not a fan of the app I started using as I can't see my distance and see how I'm doing. It's the 10k For Pink Free.

I warmed up for 5 minutes and then alternated 1 minute of running and 1.5 minutes of brisk walking for 20 minutes, and then a 5 minute cool down. I wish I could see my pace and how far I actually ran. Any suggestions are welcome for better apps to use!

I felt great on the whole run but let me tell you....Red Wing Blackbirds are vicious!!!! I was attacked twice on my route. The bird actually pulled my hair! Turning around and seeing the bird divebombing your head makes the bird seem like this

Suggestions on how to keep the birds from attacking my head? Maybe wear a light in my hair or aluminum foil? I know foil scares the birds from building nests on my parents garage lights. According to this video, they like the bouncing hair - maybe I need to wear a hat?

So now that I ended June on such a good note, I hope to continue this into July. I was hoping to be at a much lower weight and be a bit stronger by now, but well....I guess I let it slide. I hope to stay on track this time and have a fellow blogger that is going to help me stay accountable.

Playoff Party Recipes

This post ends Playoff week and hopefully I supplied you some ideas of what to make while you are watching the Packers cream the 49ers on Saturday (6:30 CST). I looked back thru some old posts and found out a few things.

1) I barely ever posted photos
2) I never linked anything
3) I didn't use any tags or labels

Man have I learned a lot in such a short time.

Anyways, what I did find in these old posts were some really great recipes that can be used for your party on Saturday! (Have I made it clear enough that I hope you are having a Packer party Saturday?)

Here is what I found:

Conky Wonks recipe - beef, velveeta and rye bread - soooo good!

Sliders from Superbowl XLV

Hungry Girl Hummus appetizer

Hummus

Veggie wreath - sub out the veggies for those of your team colors - for me - broccoli, green pepper and yellow pepper

My ooopsie Cheesy Garlic Bread - the best oopsie I ever made!

Southwest Egg Rolls - with salsa and sour cream!

Fiber One Chicken breasts  - served with BBQ sauce and potatoes

Ham Rollups or Pickle Rolls - a favorite at my company parties

Black Bean Dip - so good for you!

Spinach & Artichoke Dip - probably my most shared recipe

Mandarin Chicken Almond Bites - basically fancy chicken salad to serve on crackers

Creamy Bruschetta from Hungry Girl - perfect two bite treat

Creamy Bruschetta

Adult Caramel Apple Cider - warms you through and through for the game

Meatballs  - the spicy sauce will keep them coming back for more. Plus they looked good enough to be featured on Sweet Bella Roos blog!

One Bite Meatballs

Stuffed Mushrooms - fill with your favorite cheese and nuts and you have an easy, yummy treat

Guinness Beer Cheese Dip - beer, cheese, crackers - what else is there?

And if you are adventurous - try to make Miller Park's Poutine or Avocado Potato Skins from Cafe Manna


So which of these will I make - probably the beer dip and bruschetta, but I'll be watching my nephew so some kid-friendly treats will have to get made as well. Here is to hoping these appetizers can leave you plenty of time to watch the game and GO PACKERS GO!

From the Books Thursday: Stuffed Mushrooms

This week is Playoff week on my blog because the Packers are playing the 49ers on Saturday at 6:30 CST.  If you are looking for a good appetizer for your party, get-together, or game watching that is easy to whip up and can be eaten with your fingers, here is one for you!

As a child, I despised mushrooms and thought they were the grossest fungus ever! Fresh or sauteed, I couldn't stand the texture. It was either too slimy or too spongy and grossed me out.

Now, I can't seem to get enough of them. My friends are 50/50 about them and my boss is even horribly allergic. I think I'll keep my low tolerance to Vitamin C over a complete allergy to a food. You never know what those could end up in!

Anyways, my mom suggested that we make stuffed mushrooms to go alongside the Ribs on a Stick from Robert's Specialty Meats, that we cooked up a few weeks ago. We just needed a recipe for proportions as we had our own ideas for the filling. We found one in the Pillsbury Annual Recipes of 2011 cookbook, but online, you find it on BetterCrocker.com.

I didn't realize that I only had one container of mushrooms when I mixed up the stuffing, so we had tons extra with nothing else for them to go on. 

Mom taught me how to easily de-stem the mushrooms with a quick twist and pull. We chopped this up to add to the filling. 

I mixed up Panko breadcrumbs, shredded Swiss cheese, chopped mushroom stems, green onions and chopped pecans.  

Stuffing them wasn't as easy as I thought because there was nothing to glue it together and have it stick in the mushroom - more of a balancing act. 

We popped them in a 9 X 9 cake pan and into the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. (we waited to see the cheese get gooey and the mushrooms cook down just a little.)

The finished product: Stuffed Mushrooms

We served them immediately and I had 5 of the 9 I liked them so much. My mom thought they were dry and possibly blames the breadcrumbs. I'm am thinking some oil or pan would help glue it together, but I will definitely make them again.