So, this is a bit of a deviation from the traditional Monday Meal, but with Valentine’s Day approaching, I thought I’d share some ideas for tasty sweets for your Sweetie(s). In this house, we definitely like to enjoy sweets now and then—at the occasional, appropriate, time and place. Making a sweet treat for my husband, Matt, has always been one of my Valentine’s Day gifts since I consider it to be an appropriate time. I believe that when I make something myself and I can control the ingredients, I can make a version that is a bit healthier
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Last week, I wrote about how Eliana noticed the many-named squash chayote/xuxu/pepinilla/cho-cho/su su in the grocery store which she recognized from one of her books about food. Read about how she noticed the squash at the grocery store by clicking here and click here to read about her food-related books. After last week’s post, I got suggestions about how to prepare this squash from both my sister-in-law, Mariana, and a former colleague, Mary. What I found most interesting is that both these women knew the squash by totally different names. Mariana, who is Brazilian, called the squash xuxu
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The idea of making granola intimidated me for a long time. Until I finally made it. It is so easy that I keep a fresh batch around at all times. Besides the obvious health benefits of making my own granola such as controlling the amount of sugar, I love that I can customize it to include whichever types of nuts and fruit I want to use. We love to spoon it over Greek yogurt, but I’m sure it is equally tasty over regular yogurt, with milk or over ice cream. One piece of advice: chop the nuts and
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Roasted Squash Sauce with Cheese Ravioli -1 large onion, cut into half-moons -3 small squash, cut in half (I used 2 acorn squash and 1 red kuri squash) -3 cloves garlic, skin on with ends cut off -1 cup vegetable broth -Zest and juice of 1 lemon -3 sage leaves, chopped and placed in a medium-sized bowl -1½ tablespoons unsalted butter -½ cup raw cashews -1 teaspoon salt, plus a little more to sprinkle on the vegetables and cashews -½ teaspoon pepper, plus a little more to sprinkle on the vegetables -¼ grated parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling
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Guess what Eliana found at the grocery store the other day? We were walking through the produce aisle and she began vigorously pointing and grunting, “Unh! Unh! Unnnnhhhhh!” I turned and what did I see? A xuxu squash, more commonly known as chayote. How the heck did Eliana notice that, you ask? Well, remember that post from a few weeks ago about reading books about food and eating as part of her education as a teeny tiny foodie? Her book, My Foodie ABC: A Little Gourmet’s Guide by Puck features a xuxu for the letter X. Of course, we
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There are many things I love about living in Brooklyn. Winter weather, however, is nowhere on that list. So, when the temperature drops and does wacky things like snow, hail and rain all in the same day I want to stay inside and stay cozy. And what do I want to do when stuck inside on a wintery day? Bake muffins with Eliana, my teeny tiny foodie, of course! Our muffin recipe is below with one tiny variation. As I was pulling out all the ingredients I realized we had barely any honey. Whoops! So, I substituted the
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I saw this (original) recipe on Babble.com and it looked super easy, fast and delicious. How can I not love that combination? Before I even started cooking, I modified the recipe a bit and doubled the amount of sauce I made. We like a lot of sauce over here. But, I did end up with some extra sauce so I found some other ways to use it. I’ve added those little extras to the bottom of the recipe. Don’t like tofu? Just swap it out for your preferred protein. The star of this recipe is really the peanut sauce
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One thing I’ve learned over the last year is that having a few items in the pantry at all times makes it really easy to get a meal on the table quickly. That lesson came in handy this afternoon when we came home from Eliana’s swimming class and the three of us were already hungry for lunch. For me, whole-wheat pasta is usually my fast and easy go-to meal. It is low maintenance to cook, it’s a great base for anything I want to mix into it, and it’s pretty healthy. After a quick raid of the freezer, pantry
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This Monday Meal should actually be called “Monday and Tuesday Meal” since it is actually two recipes in one. You basically double the amount of food you make for the first meal and fancy-it-up a bit for a meal the next day. I’m a huge fan of putting in more effort on one day in the kitchen so I can basically not do so much the next day. So, to me, this Monday Meal is nothing short of brilliant. Spicy Fish with Sautéed Vegetables and Rice (Recipe 1) Adapted from Sandra Lee -1½ pounds fish fillets (flounder,
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I know this is not a big deal and I feel a bit silly getting all bent out of shape about it. But, it’s making me so frustrated. What am I whining about? Around a month ago, Eliana began her own potato strike and has been refusing to eat them ever since. It’s like the moment she figures out that potatoes are involved in a meal–she’s done! What the heck did the potatoes do to her?? So in response, I’ve begun my own one-woman crusade for the love of potatoes. As part of this crusade I’ve made the
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This post is otherwise known as: How I Got My Overtired and Massively Teething Toddler Fed and Into her Crib ASAP I had visions for how this morning would go. Eliana would nap, we’d head out to a nearby play space and then come home for lunch and more playing. Well, things didn’t quite happen that way. Instead, Eliana didn’t nap because her teeth were killing her. Then it became clear that getting out to go anywhere wasn’t going to happen because she was so overtired that she couldn’t see straight. Needless to say, there was
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Peter Berley’s Recipe for Vegetable Stock Makes about 2 quarts -2 large onions, chopped into ½ inch chunks -4 carrots, peeled and cut into ½ inch chunks -2 stalks celery, chopped into ½ in chunks (include the leaves, too) -2 parsnips, peeled and chopped ½ inch chunks -2 heads garlic, unpeeled and cut in half -10 cups water -2 bay leaves -2 sprigs fresh thyme (I used parsley) In a large pot, place the onions, celery, parsnips, carrots and garlic along with the water. Bring to a boil. Skim the foam off the top of the pot
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