Mom's Eggplant Parmesan

Yummy, Sister!  That milkshake looks soooo delicious, I can't wait to try it.  Makes me really miss you :)  I know what you mean about kids not eating what you cook sometimes - Megan is pretty picky too, so I never know with these recipes what she will actually eat or not.  I could probably just cook Mac&Cheese, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese sandwiches or turkey burger patties every night, and they'd be happy.  What do your kids like the best?  

Last night I made Mom's Eggplant Parmesan.  Yum!  I love this recipe because it's like eating a lasagna without the noodles & carbs!  Let me know if you already make this!!  You're the best with spices in your sauces :), so I bet your version is even tastier!


SAUCE: Saute 3 cloves of garlic & half an onion in oil.  Add ground turkey and cook.
Stir in your favorite red marinara sauce with fennel seeds, salt & pepper to taste. Simmer.
EGGPLANT: Peel and slice 2 eggplants, slices should be about 1/2 inch thick.  Lay the slices in a Pyrex casserole dish, add water, cover and cook in the microwave for 5-10 minutes until the eggplant is cooked.
CASSEROLE:  Assemble layers like a lasagna - sauce, eggplant, mozzarella cheese, etc. and top with mozzarella. (Sometimes I assemble one large casserole, or sometimes I split it into two smaller sized ones.  Depends on if I want leftovers or not, or how many are eating.  I'll either freeze the extra or give it to a friend).
COOK: In oven at 350 until bubbly, about 20 minutes.  I like raising the temp at the end to 425 and browning the cheese a little.

Love you, sister!  Have a great weekend!
Hugs to you and the kiddos,
Me 

P.S. Megan did NOT eat this ... but when Mom is here and makes it, she loves it.  Argh!! 

It's indeed a milkshake

Sister!!  I love the recent posts - the caprese salad reminds me of our summer in Italy, and the stroganoff of course reminds me of being home with you in Piedmont.  I will try them both!  The kids have been reluctant to try some of the recipes I've made lately, but I'm continuing to cook and experiment.  I'll post something new soon.

In the meantime, here is the original "smoothie" (milkshake) recipe I made years ago.  I had one last night as I couldn't sleep and this seemed to be the best thing to make.  It was yummy!!  As always!!

In a blender:

Strawberries
Banana
Vanilla Ice Cream
Whipped Cream on top

Optional:

Blueberries
Instant oatmeal (it's too sugary for me now, but it was tasty when I used it)
Milk or orange juice (I'm using soy milk now, and I haven't missed dairy milk at all)

Love from my kitchen to yours!!

xo

Insalata Caprese Appetizer

Sorella, here is a little taste of Italy ... from my cucina to yours!  So easy, so delicious, and just in time to get us inspired for our spring vegetable gardens.  Can't wait to be growing tomatoes and basil again.  For now, all you need from the store is 1 container of cherry tomatoes, 1 container of basil, 1 container of round mozzarella balls, and 1 package of toothpicks.  Hopefully at home you have balsamic vinegar & vegetable or olive oil.

On a toothpick, skewer a mozzarella ball, then a basil leaf, then a cherry tomato.  Set on your favorite platter.  Continue making as many as you like.  This would be great for a party - takes minutes to make!!  Pour oil & vinegar into a dipping bowl.  Serve, dip & eat! 

Now, I don't know about your kids, but my kids will only eat this if I just put one tomato or one mozzarella ball on a toothpick.  I would call this version "kid-friendly caprese," but those toothpicks are seriously sharp ... so not so friendly.  But yummy and healthy.  Just be sure to have the kids sit while they eat this :)  (The picture above shows the "kid friendly caprese" on the right).

Ti amo, Sorella!
Lisa

Mom's Beef Stroganoff (slightly modified)

Hi Sister!  Brian requested beef stroganoff for his birthday dinner on Friday, so I thought I would post the recipe on our blog.  It may not look too pretty in the picture, but it's so delicious and creamy!  Definately one of our favorite family recipes to make!  As I am writing this post, I realize that many of my friends don't like cooking with canned mushroom soup ... how do you feel about it?  There are of course many other ways to make a creamy beef stroganoff, but mushroom soup reminds me so much of growing up, that I don't hesitate at all. The kids love mushroom soup sauce so much that I sometimes make it just for them with noodles, nothing else.  I also like making Mom's tuna casserole and tuna over toast, both which have mushroom soup.  Brian makes green bean casserole with mushroom soup too, and his Dad makes a delicious beef with mushroom sauce and rice.  So, obviously we're fans!  I hope you like it too :) If not, an easy replacement for the soup would be cream cheese or putting the effort into making a cream based sauce from scratch with butter, flour, cream, etc.   But here is our family recipe:

At the grocery store, just ask the butcher for the best cut of beef for stroganoff and have them slice it for you so you don't have to do it at home!  I like beef tenderloin, but beef sirloin steak is good too!  Pick up 2 cans of mushroom soup, 1 small onion, 1 package of pre-sliced mushrooms, 1 package egg noodles, and 1 small container of sour cream.

At home, slice your onion into long strips and start a pot of water on the stove for the pasta. 
Sear your strips of meat in a hot pan with vegetable oil (or butter), salt and pepper, then turn down the heat a bit and saute your sliced onion with the meat. 
When the onions turn clear and the meat is mostly cooked, add the mushrooms.
Once mushrooms are soft, stir in a can of mushroom sauce with some milk until you like the consistency (here is the change from mom - replace sherry with milk, or beef stock).  Add a little sour cream if you want to, salt and pepper.
Let the sauce simmer on low so the flavors get mixed together, taste it again and add what you want.  (Remember when we were growing up tasting it over and over to get it right!  So funny!) 
Serve over hot noodles.

Enjoy, my sister!  A little taste from home.  I miss you! 
Love, Lisa

March Lucky Clover Playdough Recipe!

Hi Sister!  I'm not sure if making homemade play dough counts as cooking, but I wanted to pass on this easy, fun recipe to you anyway!  I've always wanted to try doing this, but didn't really get around to it until this month.  At the beginning of the school year, I volunteered to make playdough for Megan's classroom, and I'm so glad I chose the month of March - Leprechauns & Shamrocks & Rainbows!!  I have lots of ideas. The kiddos are sure to love it!

First, make this basic Playdough Recipe:

Once you've cooked it all together and kneaded the dough until it's smooth (careful - it is hot!), you can knead in GLITTER and/or FOOD COLORING and/or SPICES like cinnamon or a kool-aid packet!  Targeting all their little senses, except taste of course ;)  This is so fun!! Here are my March themed play dough ideas:

* Pot of Gold Playdough - add yellow food coloring & gold sequins or gold glitter.
* Rainbow Playdough - knead in a packet of kool-aid for a yummy smell then swirl in all the colors you want.  The back of the food coloring box describes how to make lots of colors.
* Lucky Clover Playdough - add green food coloring and green glitter.  That's what we made!  (I used an entire tube of green coloring). 


So, Happy early St Patrick's day next weekend, Sister!  My little St. Paddy's Day secret .... shhhhhh ..... I always put green food coloring in the toilets and leave other green things around pretending the Leprechauns have visited during the night ;) 
Love you!  Have fun!
Me

Crafty Cooking: Cinnamon- Sugar Alphabet Cookies

Hi Sister!! I am so excited to be posting on our blog again! I can't believe how much time has passed by ... Lucy was a newborn when we started this, and now she is 2 years old! Egads, but time flies when you're a mama. Thank you for getting us going again.

So, Megan and I have been doing lots of crafty-cooking together in the kitchen lately, especially during Lucy's afternoon nap. It is so much fun, sister! Often, we are just trying to find something to do, and we happen to find an interesting recipe on the back of a box or something. The recipe for Strawberry Shortcakes on the Bisquick Box was the inspiration for this activity. Long story short, but I ended up making up this Alphabet Cookie recipe/activity using the Bisquick box as a starting point. I know Jack & Maddie with love doing this with you - they are the perfect age!

The dough should be very easy to roll, so if it comes out too sticky, just add more Bisquick until it feels right. They can roll out the letters in their names, roll out the alphabet, make faces, shapes, balls, numbers - whatever! What fun to have preschoolers in our kitchens :))

You will need a box of BISQUICK! The kids can measure the dry ingredients, pour & mix it together. Get ready for a messy kitchen, though ;)

STIR: 2 1/3 cups Original Bisquick Mix, 2/3 cup milk, 3 tbsp melted butter, 5 tbsp sugar & 2 tbsp cinnamon (add more sugar & cinnamon to taste). Stir until dough forms, then use hands to knead it together. Add more Bisquick mix if it's too sticky to roll out. Dough should be very easy to handle.

ROLL out letters, shapes, whatever the kids like, and place their creations onto a cookie sheet.

SPRINKLE with extra sugar, sprinkles, & cinnamon.

BAKE 10 minutes or until golden brown in oven at 425 degrees.

EAT!! LAUGH!! ENJOY!!

Ginger soy salmon

Sister, before I tell you about the surprise ingredient, let me say that this recipe is the MOST delicious, moist, and flaky salmon I have ever had!!! I've adapted the original recipe from Jeremy's family and added a side dish of sauteed vegetables that is one of Mom's staple dishes. Having my kitchen filled with the aroma of onions and red peppers, with fish in the oven, brings me back to Piedmont in a very nice way. Served with a small portion of rice (choose white or brown, whichever you prefer), salmon is a wonderful, healthy meal filled with omega-3's and other wide-ranging benefits for the body. Sister, I'm still debating, and researching, the pros and cons of farm-raised versus wild. The salmon I purchased today from Safeway was "ocean raised" which I thought meant was raised in the....ocean....but alas, no, as the butcher told me, it was raised on a farm in the water. If you have experience with this, let me know!!

1/2 pound salmon (per person)
Fresh ginger, finely chopped
Soy sauce (I prefer the light)
Salt and pepper (I use the McCormick's Grinder so they're freshly ground each time)

Red pepper
Onion
Zucchini

And the surprise ingredient...

Mayonnaise!!

So first place the salmon skin side UP on a pan or flat cookie sheet. Broil (low) in the oven for 6 minutes. Take out of the oven, flip the salmon over, skin side down. Sprinkle lightly with soy sauce, salt & pepper, fresh lemon juice, and apply mayonnaise (just a little bit) and ginger evenly. Place back in the oven on broil for 6 more minutes or until cooked thoroughly.

While the salmon is cooking, saute sliced red peppers, onion, and zucchini in an iron skillet with a little bit of olive oil. I tossed in some of the remaining ginger as well. For sauteing in general, and you probably already do this, Magdalena has taught me to use a *hot* skillet - let it heat up first, and then heat the oil - and THEN put in the veges. I always did it the opposite way - veges in the pan with the oil, heated up altogether. Ended up in a greasy, squishy mess.

Oh, and sister, I learned a good lesson tonight - do not use parchment paper when broiling. :) I almost burned down the kitchen for this salmon dish!! But so worth it...enjoy!!

It's a Smoothie...not a milkshake!!!

Sister, two or three years ago my daily (well, okay, morning breakfast) smoothies included vanilla ice cream and sugary oatmeal packets. They were yummy and delicious! But yes, in fact, they were milkshakes, as you most accurately if not lovingly pointed out on several different occasions. :) So here we are, several years later, and I'm happy to report that even though I still make my famous strawberry & vanilla ice cream milkshakes for myself and the kids, I am now making what has been called "green monster smoothies" and they are amazing!! Healthy, vegan, and full of vitamins & antioxidants - they are low in sugar (because I don't use juice) and they are surprisingly tasty. For lunch today I made a blender-full, which amounted to about 24 ounces, and drank it all within a half hour. YUMMY. Here is the recipe which is simple, and adapted, with some guidance from Magdalena, from skinnytaste.com:

2-3 handfuls of fresh baby spinach (or frozen broccoli)
1 cup frozen chunks of pineapple
1/2 cup ice
1 cup soy (or almond) milk
1/3 - 1/2 cup plain oats
1 banana
1 handful of fresh blueberries

These are just approximate amounts - I tend to guesstimate according to how it all looks in the blender. Generally I like to fill it up all the way, so if there's room left, I add more spinach or berries, etc.

Enjoy Sister! I hope to get Jack & Maddie to try it....so far the mere mention of spinach or broccoli sends them running out of the room. :) Small steps forward.

My love for lemons

Sorella, I thought I'd share something with you that I've come to love over the past year - fresh spring water, or sparkling, with lemon juice. Something so simple, and so healthy! I recommend Meyer lemons because they're a little sweeter than the normal ones I find in the grocery store, but those are good too - just a little more tart. I usually squeeze the juice of one whole lemon per glass of water. Not only is it refreshing, it's really good for the body. It detoxifies and cleanses - and has an alkalizing effect. Sister, I don't know exactly what that means but it sounds good! Cheers!