Eating Dinner With My Family

School is out and I decided to make a labor intensive breakfast I don't usually have the time or inclination to do. I opted for homemade waffles. (No mixes!). Turns out they aren't that hard to make and in the time I had before I was planning to wake them up, I made whipped cream and a strawberry syrup and waffles became a Waffle Bar.   I put out the traditional maple syrup, honey and softened butter as well as fresh blueberries.  It was fun to make each quarter of out waffles in to new and different combinations.   The strawberry syrup was a big hit. (Totally made it up and it was almost all fruit.) Basic Waffle 4 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 1 cup 4 3/4 ounces whole-wheat flour, approximately 1 cup 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons sugar 3 whole eggs, beaten 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted 16 ounces buttermilk, room temperature Vegetable spray, for waffle iron Preheat waffle...

Having had 2 successful one pan pasta dishes, I decided to try another.  It was great too!  I actually have made this twice now that I am writing the post.  The second time for meatless Monday, I used mushroom broth and I liked it even better.  (I think)  I also did drizzle a little truffle oil on mine, so...  Totally a dish to add to the repertoire!  Perfect for new cooks (or college kids) Creamy Garlic Pasta 2 tsp olive oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 tbsp butter ¼  tsp salt ½ tsp pepper 3 cups chicken stock ½ lb spaghetti or angel hair pasta 1 cup grated parmesan cheese ¾ cup heavy cream 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley   Recipe and Instructions here http://thecheesepusher.tumblr.com/post/2719857351/creamy-garlic-pasta

After the successful one pan pasta "Spicy Sausage Pasta" I decided to take the plunge and try another. And while this one did have some of the issues I was worried about technique wise, it was a really great meal it was fast, easy and yummy; in short it is a great dish to have in your weeknight rotation.  Next time I would add a bit more basil or a lot of spinach ( oh or arugula) if I felt like upping the veggie content, and I did cook it a bit longer than called for so the sauce wouldn't bee too watery, but all in all the recipe works One-Pan Pasta 12 ounces linguine 12 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered if large 1 onion, thinly sliced (about 2 cups) 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes 2 sprigs basil, plus torn leaves for garnish 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper 4 1/2 cups water Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving  Step ...

I had chicken in the freezer and fresh turmeric in the fridge, so this recipe jumped out at me as the one to make.  Other than the turmeric wanting to stain every surface in the kitchen, this wasn't a hard dish and was really yummy.  I had chicken breasts, so they were cut up in to tender size pieces.  That made for a bit more work, but it made the recipe just that much more cost effective.  Everyone loved it, even the picky 4 year old.  This is out of eating well and seems to be fairly light and if you click on the title of the recipe below, it will take you to their site with all the nutritional information.  Some of us had it with rice, some with bread.  I personally preferred the naan with the chicken, but the people with rice enjoyed theirs too.  Quick Chicken Tikka Masala 4 teaspoons garam masala (see Note) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon turmeric 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1 pound chicken tenders 4 teaspoons canola ...

It was like eating the fires of hell!  And, I only used half the amount of sriracha (that would be 3 tablespoons!) called for here.  I halved the recipe because it just made good sense and because some of the reviews said it was spicy.  One reviewer said she thought it was a typo, but BON APPÉTIT responded it was correct.  I can't see how.  I like spice, we all like spice, but we all were unhappy with the heat level.  I think the reviewer's suggestion to switch the amounts (or at least the proportions) would result in a superior dish.  I didn't have head on shrimp, but unless those shrimp heads had the magical ability to remove capsasin from the dish, I don't see how that significantly altered the dish.  At least it was easy :/.  So this is "fixable" but I doubt I will try. Sriracha-Buttered Shrimp 2 Tbl butter 6 Tbl Sriracha 3 Cloves minced garlic 1 Lb head-on shrimp 1 Tbl lemon zest 2 Tbl minced fresh mint 2 Tbl minced fresh ba...

For meatless Monday, I thought I would try this dish.  It sounded like my kind of dish.  The result, was alright, but not a stellar dish.  That is to say, my family didn't dislike it, but they weren't wowed and they expect to be wowed.  It was super easy, so that is a plus, but it isn't a company dish ;) Penne With Spinach Sauce 1 Lb whole wheat or multi grain penne 3 garlic cloves 2 ounces goat cheese 1 ounce reduced fat cream cheese 3/4 Tsp salt 1/2 Tsp freshly ground black pepper 6 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves 2 Tbl freshly grated Parmesan Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the penne and cook until it is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Mince the garlic in a food processor. Add the goat cheese, cream cheese, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and half of the spinach leaves. Blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Set the cheese and spinach mixture aside. Meanwhile, ...

I love miso, and this miso butter is really wonderful.  If I were using it for anything but seafood, I think I would leave out the lemon.  It was perfect with the shrimp, but it was very strongly lemony for other things.  I did make one mistake, I put the mustard seeds in with the "marinade" and it was still wonderful, but I'm sure they lost their crunch..  I didn't use all the butter, as the recipe seemed to suggest, but I made corn on the cob instead of rice, and maybe with a good bit of rice, all that butter would have been ok.  As it was, using about half on the shrimp and on the corn was plenty.  If you make the butter ahead of time, this recipe is minutes from start to finish. Grilled Shrimp With Miso Butter 1 Stick unsalted butter softened 2 Tbl white miso 1/2 Tsp finely grated lemon zest 1 Tbl fresh lemon juice 1 Tbl thinly sliced scallion plus more for garnish 1 Lb shelled and deveined large shrimp 2 Tbl canola oil 1 large garlic clov...

It's Halloween and I am making some dips for our annual cul de sac party but luckily it's also a Thursday and I know exactly what fast/easy/tasty dish to make. The spicy sausage pasta. (The sausage was even on sale!  It's fate!).  The family really loves this!  (and soooo easy!)  I left the cheese off this one and we didn't miss it. Spicy Sausage Pasta  olive oil  smoked sausage  diced onion  cloves garlic, minced  low-sodium chicken broth  Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, Mild  heavy cream  penne pasta  salt and pepper  Monterey Jack cheese, shredded  thinly sliced scallions Recipe and instructions here

I am still boycotting the grocery, but I found this pin I had for Parmesan broiled tilapia that I happened to have all the ingredients for.  I grated my own parm so it was in thin shreds, I guess you could use the green tube stuff too, but I try to avoid that stuff.  It doesn't take very long to great parm.  I liked the recipe, but I didn't love it.  The kids on the other hand, loved it.  My son was pissed I only made him one piece.  The husband wasn't home for dinner, so I can't give you his opinion.  We had this with some corn on the cob (I just microwaved it) with some compound butter I had in the freezer and a salad with oil and vinegar.  It was a super fast dinner, and while not stellar, a solid 3.5 for me and higher for the kids. Parmesan Broiled Talapia Talapia Parmesan Cheese Butter Mayonnaise Lemon Juice Fresh Dill Pepper (and I added a bit of salt since I use unsalted butter) Recipe and instructions here

If you read my brief post on the tagine, you would know I had sausage issues with it.  I bought this raw chorizo they had at the store even thought I was sure the tagine called for cooked sausage.  I was quite annoyed with the tagine and my store.  Fast forward to today, and I am looking to make something with the superfluous chorizo I have.  I see this recipe in the to try file and I think it fits the bill nicely.  It was easy to cook and other than the potatoes taking like three times as long to brown up, the recipe was accurate and fast.  Let me tell you, once we tasted this, all was forgiven with the tagine.  I love that I made it because it caused this dinner to happen.  Oh myyyy!  If I were going to make any tweaks, I would have liked a tad more potatoes to meat in the hash.  It wasn't bad, but I tend to like less meat than most.  As it was, I was making it with only a pound of chorizo, and I used 1 pound 12 ounces potatoes wh...

I wasn't sure how this would turn out.  It seems a super easy shortcut to fondue. (And I guess technically it is more of a raclalette??) It also boded ill when the instructions said Italian fontina was better and they only had Swedish, but dang if this wasn't a giant bowl of artery clogging goodness!  I had forgotten just how much fun fondue is.  I am determined to have it more often.  (I'm thinking Fondue First Friday??)  There was one injury when the little girl (who shouldn't really have had her own fondue fork, but...) kind of stabbed herself in the palm, but to be fair we were in the middle of telling her that fondue forks and crackers are a bad idea and she will get hurt.  I still don't think she believes it despite the crying, tantrum and several band aids required to soothe her.  I didn't measure the oil, but I don't think I had that much more than what was called for, but here was a ton of, albeit tasty, oil in the skillet.  Not complaini...

I dove in to my pasta Pinterest board and picked this recipe. I have seen several cook the pasta and sauce all together and have been leery of them, but I figured what the heck, go for it. I think the idea is sound, cooking the pasta in flavorful water makes total sense, but I was worried the pasta wouldn't cook correctly.  I worried for nothing with this dish. It was amazing, and it was super fast, easy and one pot & one cutting board to clean up.  Next time, I think I will leave out the cheese.  I didn't notice it and it seemed to just clump up on utensils and plates.  Not bad, just why throw it in there if you don't need it.  This is going to be one of my favorites!  Not only for it's taste, but easy and fast cooking.  It has a bit of heat, so if you are totally against that, you could use just the plain tomatoes, and I think that would be fine too.  I think that this recipe is a great base to create other recipes on.  Same techni...

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 am on a Pinterest roll!  Clearing out another one I wanted to try.  This one is a recipe from a food truck; a tex-mex-korean truck.  I was excited to try it after the other tex-mex-korean dish from a food truck we made, French Fries With Bulgogi And Caramelized Kimchi .  It  was unreal, so we had high hope for this one too.  It was good but I am putting it in the fixable file.  First of all, I halved the butter I used to saute the kimchi.  A whole stick was more than I thought we could handle and it seemed a colossal waste.  We also held back on the cheese a bit.  To be fair, I didn't have any shiso leaves, and I didn't bother trying to even look on line to see if I could get them.  I didn't even try to see if there was a substitute.  The end product was super greasy!  I think that could have been fixed while still keeping the tasty flavor these quesadillas had.  Another thing, I added a sour cream dipping sauc...

I really have to say I dug these sandwiches.  Yes, I am going to complain about some things, mainly so if you make these, you won't have reason to be annoyed with them, but this is an awesome take on a Bahn Mi type sandwich.  Now we adore bahn mi, so this was going to be a popular dish in the house, but because we are going to compare this to one of our all time favorite meals, there could be some disparaging comments.  There weren't! We all enjoyed it, a lot!  Ok on to the complaining! If you follow the cooking directions, you need to cook the chicken in one batch.  If you split it in to two batches, like I needed to because of the  size of my grill pan, you will have some burnt mayo in the bottom for your second batch.  It wasn't horrible, but it was a bit smelly and stuck to some of the second batch chicken.  Also, the shallots cooked way faster than the chicken and they were almost, and by almost I meant just over the line burnt!...

Well for no other reason, this dish is awesome because it is quick, easy and inexpensive. I chose it because feta was BOGO so I had an extra one. Even not counting feta as a free ingredient, it was totally economical. Now it isn't a wow or an omg, but still pretty tasty and a different twist on your typical spaghetti. The boys were hovering around a 3.5 , but I thought solid 4 and its my blog so 4 it is! ;)  I forgot to save the pasta water, but I don't think it needed it and I used all the parsley in the morning's juice so I didn't have that, but it was still a good dish.  The only thing I would recommend is to season well with salt.  I went light because I know how salty feta is, but upon tasting it, I think it needed a good bit more.  Start with a light salting of course and taste, but just keep in in mind.  If I made this again, I think I would like to roast my own peppers:).  Oh and btw, we are having a meatless Sunday, since tomorrow we are cooki...

My husband loves NPR and as a result, I do too.  I adore the Splendid Table and that is where this recipe came from.  The only issue I had with this recipe is the cheese did not guild the pasta, more like clumped a bit and stuck to the bowl and utensils but in the end it was yummy so I forgive them for having me picture each noodle being sheathed in a cheese coat.  The kids really dug it too.  The  boy ate a monstrous portion and, adjusting for size, so did the girl!  The girl also punctuated her bite with phrases like "this is my favorite pasta," " can we have this for breakfast."  You get the picture.  It was also pretty easy to make.  They said that the sauce could sit on the stove for a hour before using, so I had it working and done before the boy was home from karate, and had the water at a simmer covered, so when he was home, all I had to do was cook the noodles.  It was also economical.  The huge portion of pasta, which...

Ok so it is the kids first day back to school and its meatless Monday. I did not have the mimosa in the driveway moment after they were off to school that I was dreaming about so I was feeling less than motivated when it came to dinner. I also want to toss everything in the fridge and start over as back to school is like New Year's Day to me.  In the end, I focused on the ricotta I needed to use. I'm sure this dish has been done a thousand times over, but I don't think I have ever made anything similar. (Other than lasagna). I decided today was the perfect day to bust out the pricy, all natural, marinara I buy bogo for just such an occasion. So, that + ricotta was the start of the dish. I had angel hair on hand do I called it a dish and skipped the grocery. The ricotta would need at least salt. I decided to add that in the form if Parmesan. So, any tired moms, bad day having, or slackers, this is a dish for you! Fast, easy and zero work!  Oh and I called it pasta alla Bambi...

So, it's the Sunday before the kids go back to school.  I want it to be an awesome, laid back kind of day before the early morning tomorrow.  (well laid back for them since I'm doing the work;)  I also let them have a repeat for dinner tonight and my son choose the Ultimate Sriracha Burger.  (good choice)  I saw this syrup on pinterest and said I have buttermilk I need to use, why not?!  I know the kids were clamoring for my famous sprinkle pancakes.  (actually a friend of mine made them first, but my son's friends and cousins adore them and I have to make them if they are here for breakfast.  It's only as taxing as regular pancakes, which for some reason I find very taxing.  Perhaps it is because I'm most emphatically not a morning person and I feel there is something obscene about working that hard with a cup of coffee in hand.  Now huge amazing breakfasts I have no issue with, just so long as someone else is cooking and cleaning...

It was one of those moments where you think the universe is telling you to do something!  I had on deck for this week, and indeed scheduled for today, this grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a mustard/ apricot jam dipping sauce that I saw on an article of grown up grilled cheeses on Yahoo. Yesterday, I got my latest issue of Food and Wine, and under the heading '7 minute dinners' here was this recipe for the inside out grilled ham and cheese. It also had an apricot/mustard sauce but the main difference was that you press a layer of grated Parmesan cheese in to the buttered bread before grilling. Brilliant!  Genius!  The result, even without all the other tasty ingredients, was this crispy perfect, ultra thin Parmesan frico. Now figure in the apricot/Dijon sauce and the pickles and you have one heck of an awesome sandwich. I don't know why I don't want to give it a 5 star rating, but I'm going with 4.5. Perhaps it was my son not digging it quite as much as we did. ...