Several Goals...

Goal #11: Try 75 New Recipes

I keep a binder with recipes I've printed off and I found one I put in there a long time ago but haven't tried yet.

Chicken Piccata Salad

1/4 Cup Extra Light Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Fresh squeezed lemon juice
5 teaspoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons minced shallots
Black pepper to taste
1/2 of a 4 lb. Rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 1/4 cups orzo, cooked per package directions
14 oz. package of frozen broccoli, cooked per package directions
1/3 cup capers, drained

Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, shallots and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside. Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Pour dressing over everything and toss to make sure everything is coated well.

**Side Notes** I sauteed 2 chicken breasts (seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powders) in olive oil instead of using a rotisserie chicken. I did not have a shallot so I used a little onion and a clove of garlic. Also, I used Real Lemon Juice instead of fresh.

This was a very good, light, dinner. Ryan couldn't get enough of it. He like tangy things. I think it would have been less tangy if I used a fresh squeezed lemon.

Goal #53: Cook 3 things from every cookbook I own

I have a recipe book I inherited. I'm not sure from whom but I think it was my late Grandma BeeBee's. It's from the Junior League of Baton Rouge. I couldn't figure out the year it was printed but in the front it had a list of all their editions starting in the 1959 and the last was 1972. I'm thinking this was the 1972 edition. Either way, there are some weird recipes in there. Turtle soup to name one. I might have trouble finding 3 recipes out of this one...I might stick to the desserts or breads.

I chose to make cabbage rolls. I saw Giada on Food Network make some that were very similar.

Cabbage Rolls
1 large head of cabbage
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 T. butter
1 T. Salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 small onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup cooked rice (I used brown rice)
1 No. 2 can of tomatoes (wasn't sure what No.2 meant but I ended up using 2 14.5oz cans)

Gently pull off eight large cabbage leaves from the head. Simmer in 1" boiling water, covered for 5 minutes. Drain and lay out for filling. Combine ground beef and pork. Saute in butter until brown. Add salt, pepper, onions, garlic and rice. Fill leaves with mixture, using 1/8 of it for each. roll up each, folding ends to center. Secure with toothpick. Place in greased skillet. Add tomatoes, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Or may be cooked in oven at 350 for 45 minutes. Remove toothpicks. Serves 4.

**Notes** I did not saute the meat in butter. There's already enough fat. I couldn't successfully pull off cabbage leaves from the head so I dropped the entire head into a pot of boiling water then once they softened up a little I pulled them off. I filled each leaf with as much as I thought it would hold, rolled it up and put it seam side down. I don't think I would make these again. Although they were tasty it just took too much to prepare.

Goal #36:Walk 20,000 steps in 1 day

Over Thanksgiving we went down to Orlando, FL to visit some friends we haven't seen in years. We had the opportunity to go to Disney World. After walking ALL DAY LONG we all decided that I had more than likely walked at least 20,000 steps. I didn't have a pedometer with me but the only way to get around was to walk. If you've ever been to Epcot and Animal Kingdom you know it's BIG!