Eating Dinner With My Family

I am not a huge sweets person.  I do enjoy a sugary treat now and then, but savory is what I crave.  There are certain flavors of dessert that do strongly tempt me: Salted Caramel, Coconut, and Lemon!  Oh lemon just might be the biggest temptation of all.  (Lemon and Key lime that is;)  So when I saw this drool worthy pin for drenched lemon loaf cake, I knew that was a sweet I had to make.  It was worth every minute of work and calorie consumed.  That was just my opinion, my husband liked it even more!  Considering that I am a idiot when it comes to baking, and that I pulled it off, I think it is safe to assume that it was easy to make:)  I have a bit of a confession.  Check out that lovely picture of my lemon loaf cake over there to the right.  Check out the bottom of the post to see what it really looked like if you saw it from the other end :) Lemon Loaf Cake 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/...

My son requested shrimp tonight.  I like shrimp well enough, but I hate peeling them.  And even though I buy 'deveined' I always need to get rid of that little bit by the tail that they never seem to get rid of.   So I was poised to be annoyed and not very impressed with the dish. I gotta admit, they were really good and it was super fast to make. (OCD peeling of the shrimp aside)  I got a baguette and quickly made a green salad and dinner was done in about 15-20 minutes.  Sizzled Shrimp Provençal   1/4 Cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 1/2 Lb jumbo shrimp peeled and deveined Salt and freshly ground pepper 2 large garlic cloves very finely chopped 2 Tbl small capers drained 1/4 Cup fresh lemon juice 2 Tbl finely chopped flat-leaf parsley 1.In a very large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until shimmering. Season the shrimp generously with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp to the skillet and cook over high heat until they...

I really need to get through some of the pins I have on my "sweets" board. I don't bake much but everyone else in the house has a mega sweet tooth!  I do have two (ok 3) things that I do really enjoy in the sweets department. 1) Coconut!!! 2) Citrus (I <3 sour!) and if I'm totally honest cheesecake.  So, I picked this cookie to make in lieu of a new recipe tonight.  And since I'm not feeling up to snuff my, darling husband cooked these for me.  You know the drill with fellow bloggers, I give you the link to their site and a list of what you will need so you know what you are working with.  If I were going to make any notes for making this in the future, use salted butter in the crust!  I think it needed it, and so did my husband. Sunburst Lemon Bars Crust all-purpose flour powdered sugar butter grated lemon peel Filling eggs granulated sugar all-purpose flour baking powder fresh lemon juice grated lemon peel Glaze powdered sugar lemon juice Recip...

I love my juicer. We have a glass every day. My favorite is the "original v-8" but we often just destroy vast amounts of produce and alternate between sweet and savory juices, often leaning towards the savory.  This was a kind of fruit clean up juice I really enjoyed, so I figured I would save it to the blog.  The papaya make for quite a thick juice, I think it really can't be a single item in a juice unless you want it more like a shake.  Next time I think I might like to try a bit of ginger in the juice as well; not too much to overwhelm the flavor but just a smidge. Papaya & Pear Juice   1 papaya 1 red pear 1 green pear 1 Granny Smith 1/2 lemon Put items in the juicer and serve over ice. 

We all enjoyed this dish very much.  My husband, who was not hungry, ended up eating quite a bit and said he wanted to rate it a 5;  my son and I were hovering between 4-4.5 with myself leaning towards the lower end, but I have chicken issues.  It was a great breading and I do like chicken pounded thinly; the sauce was a tad lemony for me but still really amazing!  It wasn't the fastest meal, but it wasn't particularly hard to make. We halved the recipe since we are just 4 people.  Even the three year old loved the chicken and occasionally dipped hers in the sauce. Chicken Milanese With Sage-And-Lemon-Butter Sauce   6 Tbl cold unsalted butter cut into tablespoons 2 medium shallots minced 1 Cup heavy cream 1 Cup dry white wine 1 Cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth 2 Tbl chopped fresh sage 2 Tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice Pinch of cayenne pepper Salt and freshly ground white pepper Chicken 1 Cup seasoned dry bread crumbs 1/2 Cup panko (...

A plethora of lefotvers and my desire to play with the juicer prevented me from acutally cooking dinner tonight, so instead I share the juice we made today.  It was good, better than the veggie alternative to red bull I made previously!  I think I will try the "V8" recipe on the site I'm getting these recipes from next.  Based on the ingredients, I think I will like it even better. Better Than A Salad Cucumber - 1 cucumber (8-1/4") Lemon - 1 fruit (2-1/8" dia) Onion (spring/scallion) - 1 medium (4 1/8" long) Parsley - 1 handful Pepper (sweet red) - 1/2 medium (approx 2-3/4" long, 2-1/2 -dia.) Tomatoes - 3 small whole (2-2/5" dia) Process all ingredients in a juicer, shake or stir and serve.

I have been wanting a juicer; at the very least I wanted to make healthier juices for the kids, but I was also hoping to add a good bit of fruit and veggies to my diet. I know people become absolute fanatics about juicing, but I can't see that happening to us:). So this is my first "juice" I made. It was touted as good for beginning juicers. It was a bit odd and a bit to strong in the celery (I left out 1 stalk too!), but on the whole, not too bad.  The funniest thing was a little bit after drinking it, I looked over at my husband and said, I feel weird.  He said he did too.  The best description we could come up with was we felt like we were slipped some kind of drug. (Or slammed one too many red bulls:)  I asked him if this was what healthy felt like, and we both got a good laugh out of it.  I will update you as our experience progresses. Mean Green 2 granny smith apples 3 stalks of celery 1 cucumber 1 thumb of ginger 6 leaves of ...

Well tonight's dish was no wow. However, I feel honor bound to round up 1/2 a star on pure healthiness.  So it gets 3 stars.  I used a wild salmon and I think that I should have broiled it, but I hate to diverge from a recipe the first time I make it.  I picked this dish for it's lightness as we are all heavier and bloated from all the food we ate on vacation.  The flavors were ok, but like I said, not a wow.  The thing we liked the best was the Lemon Chia Seed dressing for our salad!  It was really amazing, and it went well with the fish.  In fact, I think a plain piece of broiled Salmon with this dressing would be better than the following recipe.  Of course the dressing has oil in it where the fish recipe doesn't.  If you are looking for a decent low cal recipe, than this will fit the bill, but if you are looking for really tasty food, go with a different salmon recipe, eat less of it, and fill up on salad. Salmon With Sriracha Sauce...

My darling, aunt in law I guess, gave me this huge beautiful eggplant. When I went  on my meatless board on Pinterest, the first one that popped up was this one. I figured it was fate and decided I had to make it. It was a bit of work but not to terribly much. I made the tomato sauce the day before which cut out a lot of time and some work off the dish. I think the tomato sauce was pretty good, and it was most definitely better the next day.   I would think the whole dish is about a 3. Things that prevented it from ranking higher!  I would reduce the lemon juice or zest. Not that they weren't nice in it, but it was a lot of lemon flavor in the end. I also think it needs more tomato sauce to eggplant roll. So next time, instead of just a little in the bottom, I would put a good thick layer. Also, I only used 1/2 tablespoon of cream per roll. I am putting this in the fixable file. For the eggplant involtini recipe click here . For the tomato sauce r...

Well, I have found myself going to the grocery almost every day!  And, while I seem to spend more with that plan of attack, I waste less. Tonight's dinner is a perfect case in point. I had bought plain, full fat yogurt for the lassi I plan on making, but it only came in a huge portion. I used it for last night's shawarma, tonight's gyro and still have enough to make my lassi once the mango is perfectly ripe.   We liked tonight's dinner, but we all agreed it was only a 3.5.  To be fair, we all did think most people we know would rate it higher, but that was our impression.  It was pretty easy to make.  The only issue we had was that the chicken exuded a lot of liquid when cooking and it took longer to brown than we expected.  We also added shredded lettuce to the dish.  I found this on pinterest, and I'm not sure if the site it is from is a blogger or not, so I am erring on the side of caution and treating it like it is from a blogger and providing...

Let me begin with we DID NOT put these on the grill and were very happy we did not!  That would have been a colossal mess!  My husband and I were concerned that this dish would be a bit dry, but with the tahini, veggies and hot sauce, it was really great!  I would say that the harissa was not optional since we all had some on our "burgers" and we all really liked them as is.  Harissa has got its own unique flavor that other hot sauces can't duplicate.  I did have a hard time finding it around town; I ended up finding some at, of all places, Marshall's/Home Goods!  I am almost out and will need to order some off the internet!    Grilled Chickpea Burgers With Creamy Lemon Tahini Sauce 1/4 Cup extra-virgin olive oil more for brushing 4 medium cloves garlic sliced 2 Tsp ground cumin 4 or 5 six-inch pitas 2  15.5-oz. cans chickpeas drained and rinsed 5 Tbs. tahini 1/4 Cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 medium lemon) 1 large egg Kos...

I am not the biggest fan of chicken.  It's not that I never like it, but I do have issues with it.  The boys love chicken, so I try every now and again to serve them their beloved legs and thighs.  I got this recipe from Food and Wine.  As always, Food and Wine delivered a tasty recipe.  The chicken was really juicy.  I did take out all the pieces but the thighs after the 45 minutes and the thighs I wrapped in foil and cooked a bit longer since they were only at 145.  I make one other deviation regarding the dried chipotle in the Harous recipe.  I couldn't find them and I kept forgetting to order some online, so I used dried chipotle powder.  I went light too just in case; I used a little over a teaspoon.  We all enjoyed the dish.  The boys remarked on how much they liked the skin.  Next time I would use more of the harous (perhaps because of my chipotle switch up??) because it wasn't really spicy.  It would also be n...

Ok, confession time.  I have an embarrassing secret.  I have hijacked my son's brand new PS3 and play Skyrim all day.  I am not even exaggerating about all day.  I will start when the boy goes to school, and find that he is home the next minute.  Not being a totally irresponsible parent, I make sure everyone eats, they get to and from school and all their activities,  that there are clean clothes and dishes, but only the bare minimum.  It started the week I was really sick and there wasn't much else I could do, but having returned to health, I have no excuse.  Needless to say, I have neglected not only the blog but the new recipe thing.  I am going to do better, as soon as I rid Skyrim of all evil and tyranny! :)  While I may have cobbled together leftovers for dinner, I do have a new discovery to share with you, a totally yummy cocktail or shot depending on you proclivities.  I used diet lemonade, and I hate diet drinks, and I...

Yum!!!  Meatless Monday was a huge hit tonight. I did make some small adjustments based on what  I had in the fridge.  I had a 1/2 a red onion and a 1/2 a yellow onion, so rather than cut up a new one, I used those.  Also I had jalapenos on hand, so they went in for the Serrano.  I also did not follow the tip to mince up the lemon zest.  I really like the texture of the microplaned zest and it's easier.  The dish its self is really easy to make.  The most taxing part was grating the Pecorino and mincing the gremolata.  I was quite surprised at the world of difference the gremolata made.  If we had each eaten 1/4 of the dish, there was probably enough of it, but we ate a little over 3/4 and used it all.  Now I have a bowl of pasta and none of the yummy topping that took the dish from good to wow.  What makes this a must try dish?  Well, it's easy. fast, it doesn't have any ingredients that are hard to find and won't g...

I got this recipe from Food.com.   I thought it was pretty good.  I am not a huge fan of pork chops, but these were from the loin and were on sale, so I figured I would make the boys happy.  I also made a pan sauce from the drippings, some broth, fresh sage and some cream.  I thought they were a bit too lemony but the boys raved.  Oh, and I put about 1/3 cup of broth in the pan before I put them in the oven.  For the sauce, I strained out the big chunks of breading that were in the drippings and added about 1/2 cup of broth, and scrapped up the bits in the pan.  Boiled it for about 5-7 minutes.  When it was reduced to about 1/4 cup, I added 6 sage leaves chiffonade, and about 3/4 cup cream.  I cooked that until slightly thick and seasoned with salt and pepper.  My husband, who didn't know I inproved the sauce, said it was his favorite part.  (blush;)  We had a salad with it and for a starch, I used up a bag of herb st...

Update:   I had the eggplant, hummus, pickle and tomato/cucumber salad on a pita the next day for lunch and I loved it.  Maybe it was that it was all cold, or the sit over night melded the flavors of the salad,, but I thought it was a million times better the next day. I had such high hopes for this dish.  So may of my favorite things are in it, and it wasn't bad, but the consensus around the table was that it was a 3.  I even went out and bought these Mediterranean pickles I had at a local Mediterranean restaurant to try and make it how it should be.  My issues, since it is my blog and I was the one poised to love it, were that it was a bit soggy, and therefore sloppy, and I thought the potato was useless.  I wouldn't bother with it next time.  I didn't make my own pita and I got the only "sturdiness" available, so that may be part of the issue.  There was flavor, but it didn't deliver like I had hoped.  That aside, we are spoiled ...

This was another meal from Ten Dollar Dinners .  I don't know if my veggies were particularly large, but we had lots of veggies, and that made me very happy.  I really liked the dish and it was easy to make as long as you have a mandoline or a v slicer to make short work of the julienne.  It was ready in a little over a half an hour start to eating.  I didn't think it needed anything to go with it, but I put my son's portion over some rice.  There was a lot of liquid in the parchment and it is a shame to waste so some sort of starch would be a good thing.  I would have liked more of a sauce, but I am not complaining.  My husband, who insisted he wasn't hungry, ate the whole thing;).  I thought this dish a winner for so many reasons.  It is inexpensive, healthy,easy, fast and most important, tasty.  If you don't have a mandoline or a v slicer, it is a great addition to your kitchen.  It makes paper thin cuts that are necessary f...

I had bought some baby potatoes that were bogo, and I had some cucumbers from my Front Porch Pickings basket.  This seemed like a tasty recipe that would fit the bill nicely.  It also is a perfect summer recipe in that so much of it is on the grill.  The only aspect of the recipe that was any real work was making a paste of the garlic and mincing the anchovy fine enough to dissolve into the vinaigrette.  I loved this dish; a recipe of the week for sure.  The boys loved it too.  The daughter decided to eat early and did not partake in the dinner but I think she would have loved it too.  I sit here too full of fabulous food to want to rave about it:).  I followed the recipe exactly; for the herbs for the salad I used 3/4 chives and 1/4 parsley. YUM!   Oh and I did double the time I boiled the potatoes because they were really raw after 5 minutes.  I loved that this dish was full of color.  (always good for you as long is it isn'...

Well the good news is I liked this as much, if not better, than the fish picatta.  The bad news is grilling fish is a total pain!  The thinnest part of the fillet fell through the grate when I flipped it; the big pieces fell apart.  I almost used the veggie/fish basket, but there was no mention of it in the recipe.  I figured Bobby Flay wouldn't lead me astray.  Oh Bobby!  You have never disappoint in recipes, and in all fairness this one didn't either, but the mess in the bottom of my grill!  You could have warned me; taught me a better way, something:(.  Its ok, I forgive you. Some of our all time favorite recipes come from you so I won't hold a grudge.  My husband, however, when he starts cleaning the grill may;).  The orzo was awesome.  The boy devoured his portion and some of dads. Grilled Tilapia With Lemon Butter, Capers And Orzo  1    lemon,finely zested  2    lemons,juiced ...

I was not feeling like cooking tonight.  I usually do but I was in a bit of a funk.  I have said it before and I will say it again, I have the best husband ever.  He took over dinner and cooked everything.  The fish recipe is from $10 Dinners on the food network.  I have only tried a few of her recipes, but they have ranged from good to great.  This one was adored by my son.  I liked it too, but I have to say it was a tad too lemony for me.  I would have added a bit more butter at the end or a bit less lemon.  Not that I am complaining. If you ate it with the Bulgar, it cut it's tartness.  It was really good but if I were tyring to nit pick it for fixes, that would be it.  To  go with it, my husband made Bulgar cooked in mushroom broth with some sauteed onion and celery and a lovely salad.  We ate every bit of dinner.  Usually there is a portion of leftovers, not tonight.  I don't know what sides she put wi...