Someone said strawberry salad?

I am not a menu planner. I try to plan meals for the week while I am walking the aisles, but in reality I end up buying some chicken and some salmon and some vegetables and some grains and then each afternoon I open the fridge and figure out what I am in the mood for. Or really, what I have time for. Sometimes nothing sounds good. And sometimes, especially on those hot summer days, just a big salad sounds good. I make Chinese chicken salad, BBQ chopped chicken salad, and taco salad. Lately I started making this, and I am addicted. I started out making it for myself for lunch with leftovers, but now I make it for dinner and it's a winner! This is one of those put-whatever-you-have-in-the-house-or-you-like salads. So use this as a method not a strict recipe. Obviously you can use more or less of anything to suit your needs. My mom hates fruit in salad. Weird right? So if you are her, or you are like her, leave it out. But something about the strawberries with the balsamic and all the other yummies is super delish. Try it and tell me what you think!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 head romaine or butter lettuce, chopped
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 cup strawberries, sliced
• 1/2 cup cashews halves or pieces, or chopped
• 1/4 cup green onions (optional)
• 1 cup sliced or diced chicken breast (this was leftover grilled chicken-you can use rotisserie chicken and shred it, you can grill some up, you can poach it...whatever you have/like)
• Balsamic Dressing (you can use bottled dressing or sesame dressing, but I make my own with balsamic glaze, honey, olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper)

DIRECTIONS

• Chop all ingredients and combine! Don't be overwhelmed by all the steps in this recipe :).
• Eat and enjoy!

                  

Melissa's Most Delish Mac & Cheese

Who doesn't like mac & cheeses? Well, my friend J doesn't. But really, who doesn't? And Kraft is good. So is Annie's. They all will do, but there is truly nothing like homemade mac and cheese! My mom and I have a recipe we have used for years from someones old synagogue Sisterhood cookbook, and it is fabulous, but then this came along. My very dear and too-far-for-comfort friend Melissa shared this top secret recipe with me years ago, and I have been making it and sharing it in her honor ever since. It is one of those recipes that you can make with your eyes closed, but when people ask you what is in it you are slightly embarrassed to tell them. I try to cook healthy, almost all the time. Except for desserts. And this. Try it once, and you will know why. Bring it to a potluck, deliver to a friend for dinner, or make for your family. Everyone will love it, every time!

INGREDIENTS

• 16 oz Velveeta (block), cubed
• 1 stick butter, cubed
• 1 can evaporated milk (nonfat, low fat or whole)
• 1 lb pasta (macaroni or shells are best but any shape works)
• 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Boil pasta in salted water, then drain
• Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish or use disposable tinfoil pan
• Combine pasta, butter, milk and both cheeses. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 for approximately 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. If you like it crispier on top, let it bake longer. 
• Be prepared for gooey deliciousness.
• Eat and enjoy!

My Yummy in Your Tummy: A Steaming Bowl of Tortilla Soup!

My Yummy in Your Tummy: A Steaming Bowl of Tortilla Soup!: Well, it's been a while. So sorry. I have been busy cooking and eating and baking and eating and eating and eating and cooking and eatin...

My Yummy in Your Tummy: Best Corn Chowdah Evah!!

My Yummy in Your Tummy: Best Corn Chowdah Evah!!: It's hard to believe that I have not shared a recipe for far too many months now. I could tell you I have been busy cooking, but it'...

My Yummy in Your Tummy: Fabulous fajitas!

My Yummy in Your Tummy: Fabulous fajitas!: With a 4th little monkey added to the mix these days, dinner has to be fast (and possibly made while baby-wearing!) while still healthy and ...

My Yummy in Your Tummy: Simplest Salmon

My Yummy in Your Tummy: Simplest Salmon: I am getting better at making dinners that can be cooked easily and quickly while baby-wearing little D! Yesterday I went to the grocery sto...

My Yummy in Your Tummy: Garlicky Gingery Green Beans

My Yummy in Your Tummy: Garlicky Gingery Green Beans: This super simple, healthy and yummy side dish sure has a lot of Gs! This would go great with any main dish and takes less than 15 minutes t...

My Yummy in Your Tummy: Love me some lemon chicken

My Yummy in Your Tummy: Love me some lemon chicken: As I was preparing my menu for our pre-fast dinner on Erev Yom Kippur/Kol Nidre, I wanted something light, filling and yummy. Oh, and it had...

Garlicky Gingery Green Beans

This super simple, healthy and yummy side dish sure has a lot of Gs! This would go great with any main dish and takes less than 15 minutes to prepare from start to finish. Luckily my kids love every vegetable, and I would say that green beans (string beans) are one of their favorites but yet they also love broccoli, Brussels sprouts, snap peas, cauliflower, peas...yep, pretty much every veggie! Sometimes we just steam string beans or eat them raw, but this is a really great way to dress these up and make a good side dish.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs string beans, cleaned and trimmed (can be made with any amount of beans, just adjust seasonings)
• 1-2 tablespoons EVOO
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced or grated
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:

• Bring 8 cups/2 quarts of water to a boil in a skillet
• While water is coming to a boil, prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice and water
• When water comes to a boil, add the beans and blanch for 3-4 minutes
• Remove from water and immediately place beans into the ice bath, which will shock them and stop the cooking process, keeping them bright green and crunchy
• Drain beans in a colander
• At this point, you can go to step 2 of the recipe or you can prepare them up to 3 days in advance and keep them in a Ziploc bag in the fridge until ready to use
• Warm olive oil in a large skillet, add garlic and saute 1 minutes, but don't brown garlic
• Add ginger to pan and cook another minute
• Add the beans, season with salt and pepper, and saute for a few more minutes. If you like them very well done then continue to cook until desired tenderness

Eat and enjoy! 

Love me some lemon chicken

As I was preparing my menu for our pre-fast dinner on Erev Yom Kippur/Kol Nidre, I wanted something light, filling and yummy. Oh, and it had to go well with Mimi's kasha varnishkas (kasha and bowties for any non-Eastern Europeans!!) My mom has made a version of Ina Garten's Lemon Chicken (http://m.foodnetwork.com/recipes/535857) many times, and I like it but wanted to make it my own. I didn't have boneless breasts with skin, I don't like oregano, I don't have time to zest and I wanted a stronger lemon flavor! So I made my version of this dish and it was SO yummy! I used boneless/skinless breasts and boneless/skinless thighs and it came out so great. It also reheated well, as I prepared it earlier in the day then just left it covered on the stove until it was time to reheat and serve for dinner. Oh, and it did go great with the kasha afterall, as well as garlicky gingery string beans, strawberry applesauce, brisket, and homemade challah. Hope you have as yummy of an experience as we did!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs boneless skinless breasts
• 2 lbs bonless skinless thighs (or any combination of one or the other)
• 1/2 cup EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) plus more for browning chicken
• 2/3 cup dry white wine (I used a cheap chardonnay but use what you like to drink or have open)
• 9 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (hold the seeds!)
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped (hold stems and strip leaves off backwards-great trick!)
• kosher salt (it's all I use)
• black pepper
• 1 lemon

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Heat 2-3 tablespoons of EVOO (separate from the 1/2 cup) in a large skillet. Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper and add to skillet. Brown on one side about 5 minutes or until a nice golden color develops, then flip the pieces over and brown on the other side. If your skillet is not big enough to do all the chicken in a single layer then separate into 2 batches so the chicken has room to brown-you don't want it to steam. You are not cooking the chicken here, just want to brown it to seal in juices and give nice color to chicken, otherwise chicken will be too "white" in the finished dish." Remove chicken and set on cookie sheet.
• Combine EVOO, wine, garlic, lemon juice, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a glass bowl and whisk well.
• Add chicken pieces to a large baking dish and pour the sauce over the chicken.
• Cut the lemon into 8 wedges and place among the chicken pieces.
• Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is done. Serve hot or reheats beautifully, just let cool then cover and reheat when ready to serve. The sauce would be delish over egg noodles, rice, potatoes, kasha varnishkas (yummy!)...

Eat and enjoy!

Simplest Salmon

I am getting better at making dinners that can be cooked easily and quickly while baby-wearing little D! Yesterday I went to the grocery store to restock after our trip to Mammoth, and the only thing I could find that we weren't sick of restaurant eating was salmon-which luckily all of my kids love too! While I have many yummy salmon recipes, my fave being cedar-plank salmon, my oldest likes it plain and simple, grilled or baked, no sauce. Since that takes the fun out of some of my recipes, I decided to try the most simple recipe for summer salmon last night and it was DELISH! Maybe all of our new favorite! So here's the thing-it's embarrassingly easy. It's hardly a recipe. But you must try it!! And thank me tomorrow for a new great one for your repertoire. We enjoyed this with homemade rice pilaf and crispy baked homemade kale chips.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs. Salmon fillet, skin off (halve, double, triple, etc this recipe to fit your family!)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• parchment cooking bag (I use the Paper Chef Culinary Cooking Bags)
• 2 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS

• preheat oven to 400 degrees
• sprinkle salmon with kosher salt and pepper to taste
• cut the butter into 6 small cubes and dot the top of the salmon with the butter
• place salmon into parchment cooking bag and place bag on baking sheet
• bake for 25 minutes
• let sit for 5 minutes then cut open the bag and EAT AND ENJOY!!!

Fabulous fajitas!

With a 4th little monkey added to the mix these days, dinner has to be fast (and possibly made while baby-wearing!) while still healthy and delicious! I find myself pinning all sorts of recipes and fantasizing about making them, then often forgetting to actually go back and look at them! I pinned this one a while ago, which originally came from the website eatinonthecheap.com and had been adapted from Taste of Home magazine, but I adapted it even more to fit my family size and tastes-so here you go! These are absolutely the best fajitas I have ever made, and the easiest by far! I have made them on a grill, in an electric skillet, in a cast iron pan, you name it. Each time took more oil, more time and more work. These fajitas are a mix of fresh yummy veggies and boneless skinless chicken combined with traditional seasonings-then BAKED in the oven! No more standing in front of the stove! And while they are in the oven, I made some rice (brown would be yummy too), reheated some vegetarian refried beans, mashed up a batch of fresh guacamole and created a new salad recipe. Maybe I should share it. Ok, I will!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in strips (I used tenders and then halved them)
• 2 red bell peppers, sliced
• 1 orange bell pepper, sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
• 1 purple onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable/canola/grapeseed/coconut (not olive) oil
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder or granulated garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
• In a 9 x 13 baking dish combine the chicken and the veggies.
• Mix together the oil and the spices and pour over the fajita mixture. Toss well to coat.
• Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes until the chicken is cooked through-I gave it a stir after abouut 25 minutes.
• While the fajitas are baking away, make this simple and delicious and refreshing salad:

1. peel, halve and grate a medium jicama
2. peel and grate 3 medium carrots
3. combine vegetables with the juice of a lime, 1 tablespoon agave, salt and pepper to taste

• Serve however you like! We used flour tortillas and the other yummy sides I mentioned above.

Eat and enjoy!

Yummiest Matzah Granola

If you are like me, every year you buy a box or two of Manischewitz Magic Stars cereal for Pesach, only to find your kids spitting it out and realizing just how not yummy it is...I finally learned my lesson last year and stopped buying it, no matter how tempting it was to replace their Honey Nut Cheerios with something! I read many recipes for Matzah Granola and through trial and error came up with this perfect one-but please understand it is more of a method than a recipe, because you can add/subtract anything you like/don't like to this recipe! This is how I make it, but use the additions to customize it to your taste!

Ingredients:

• 1 16 ounce box of matzah farfal (I use Osem)
• 1/2 cup vegetable/canola/grapeseed oil 
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Line a big baking sheet with foil and coat with baking spray
• In a large bowl combine farfal, oil, honey, salt, coconut and nuts-mix well until all coated
• Spread mixture on baking sheet
• Bake for 20 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon every 5 minutes to make sure mixture doesn't burn and evenly browns
• Remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes
• Add cranberries and chocolate chips
• Store in an airtight container; will last all of Pesach, or until it all gets eaten!

Eat and enjoy!

Chametz-free Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

While many people dread Pesach for the cleaning, the lack of chametz (bread products) or the way it affects some tummies-my family looks forward to these delicious cookies! My son enjoys them more than the "regular" chocolate chip cookies I make the rest of the year-which to be honest are basically the classic Nestle recipe!! These are so easy to whip up, they get mixed in one bowl, and they bake in 10 minutes! I always double the recipe and they still don't last us the whole 8 days! Try these and let me know if your family loves them as much as I do! I hope they bring sweetness to your holiday and bring a little less grumbling to your home this week!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine or butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup potato starch
• 2/3 cup matzah cake meal
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 oz chocolate chips (I use Leiber's)

Directions:

• Cream together the margarine/butter and the sugar
• Beat in the egg
• Add the dry ingredients and mix well
• Add the chocolate chips

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Remove to cooling rack, store in airtight container. They will be gone before they go bad!

Eat and enjoy!

Best Brunch Dish!

Do you ever need to throw something together to serve company for brunch and go looking through the fridge to see what you have? Well, that was me today. And it came out....so delish! Everyone loved it! Who doesn't love eggs, broccoli and cheese? Well combining them all and throwing in a few other staples makes for a delicious brunch casserole! I whipped it up in 5 minutes, threw it in the oven, and 45 minutes later...voila! Try this the next time you are having company, or you are having breakfast for dinner, which is my kids favorite night! Couldn't be easier, or yummier!

Ingredients:

• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 bag fresh broccoli (I used Trader Joe's)
• 1 cup fat-free half and half or milk
• 6 slices bread-buttermilk, sourdough, french, challah...whatever!! Cube it up, should have about 2-3 cups, doesn't have to be exact!! The less bread, the eggier it will be. The more bread, the denser it will be. You pick!
• salt, pepper, garlic powder
• 1 cup shredded cheese-cheddar, jack or mixed

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Snip the corner off the bag of broccoli and microwave for 3 minutes, or steam. 
• Beat the eggs with the milk/creamer and add 1 tsp salt and about 1/2 tsp each fresh ground pepper and garlic powder. 
• Add cheese to egg mixture.
• In a baking dish greased or sprayed, put the cooked broccoli on the bottom. 
• Then add the bread that has been cut up or torn into pieces. 
• Pour the egg/milk/cheese mixture over the top and use a spatula to toss all ingredients right in the baking dish-how easy is that????
• Let sit for at least 15 minutes or up to 2 hours, covered on counter.
• Bake at 350 uncovered for 45 minutes until golden and delicious.
• Cut into squares and serve.

Eat and enjoy!!!!

Best Corn Chowdah Evah!!

It's hard to believe that I have not shared a recipe for far too many months now. I could tell you I have been busy cooking, but it's far more likely that I have been busy eating as my body is busy growing baby number 4. I have made some super yummy things lately that I am hoping to get around and get back to sharing with you, but after I made this incredibly YUMMY and EASY soup tonight I knew I had to share! For those of you West Coasters, you will call it Corn Chowder. My East Coast friends, this is straight up delicious Chowdah! So here you go...

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 bag frozen leeks or 2 fresh leeks, cleaned and chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter (can easily use all oil to make pareve)
• 2 tablespooons flour
• 2 boxes chicken/vegetable broth or 8 cups homemade stock
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 bags frozen corn
• 1 cup fat-free half and half or mocha mix or heavy cream, whatever you have/like at home
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ground thyme, salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Saute onion and leek in oil and butter for about 10 minutes until soft. Toss veggies with the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Add potatoes to pot and toss all veggies around. Add the broth with a dash of thyme (about 1/2 teaspoon or so???), salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil and let boil about 5 minutes to break down potatoes. Add the frozen corn and the half and half and the sugar. Cover and let simmer 10-15 minutes until potatoes are soft. Use an immersion blender to puree, and taste for seasonings. 

This soup was SUCH a hit at dinner tonight with all 5 of us! We topped it with some oyster crackers and the kids all asked for seconds! Please try this. Your tummy will be happy. You will not be sorry. Eat and enjoy!