Day 31- Eggs!

Great news! Clementine, our 1 1/2 year old Barred Rock Chicken, has started laying again! She had stopped for a few months while she was taking care of her sister chicken, Bettina, while Bettina was fighting a tumor and then when Bettina passed away, Clementine mourned her for quite a while. We finally decided to get her some more friends and added Mathilda, a Rhode Island Red, and Naomi, an Ameraucana, to the flock. They are a bit younger, only 5 months, so they won't quite start laying for another month or 2. But the GREAT news as that Clementine apparently gets along with them quite well now (not so much at first---there's a reason it's called "pecking order!") And now Clemmy has started laying again!! 7 eggs this week! Go Clemmy!! And they are just as delicious as ever! So for this entry, here's the secret to the perfect farm-fresh egg over easy: Put a small skillet on level 4 (slightly below medium heat) and spray just a tiny bit of olive oil. Once it's hot, crack your egg in, careful not to break the yolk. Then let it sit...and sit...and sit...about 3 minutes...When all the clearness/whiteness looks almost done. Then quickly flip it with a spatula to quickly sear the white part and seal the yolk. Again, be careful not to break the yolk! Count to 5 and slide it onto a plate! Done! *If you are using less than farm-fresh eggs, you are totally missing out! And as such, you should probably sprinkle a little salt and pepper on your egg when you first crack it in the pan. Clemmy's eggs are perfect and need absolutely no seasoning, but then again, she's quite a gal!

Day 30- Meatloaf with Broccoli and Mashed Potatoes

This is my mom's meatloaf recipe, and to be honest, I've never had any other meatloaf so I can't compare. I mix a pound of ground beef with a handful of panko, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, a few squirts of yellow mustard, a few dashes of worchestershire sauce, a few squirts of ketchup, and 1 beaten egg with a dash of water. Form it into a loaf and bake in a foil-lined casserole dish at 350 for 30 minutes, then drain the grease and up the temperature to 375 and squirt ketchup on the top and bake for 20 more minutes. I microwave-steamed some broccoli by steaming it in a half inch of water in a casserole dish for 10 minutes on high, drained the water, and sprinkled a bit of chedder cheese on top. For the potatoes, peel and dice some potatoes and boil until tender (about 20 minutes) then smush in a boil with a splash or 2 of milk, a dab of butter, salt, and pepper. You can also go all-out and add green onions, cheddar, sour cream, and bacon bits for more of baked potato-feel. Yum!

Day 29- Salmon with spinach and potatoes

Tonight, I diced up some small red potatoes, sprayed them with olive oil, sprinkled with garlic powder, salt, and pepper, added some fresh chopped rosemary, sprayed again with olive oil, and roasted in a foil-lined casserole dish at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. I also sauted some fresh spinach in a small pot with a dash of olive oil and a little garlic powder. And lastly, I pan sauted 2 salmon filets with a slurry of soy sauce, brown sugar, dijon mustard, and chopped garlic for about 2 minutes on each side. Easy peasy.

Day 28- Scallops

Tonight's dinner is Broiled Scallops with Kale Chips and Parmesan Noodles. I roasted the kale chips like on yesterday's blog entry. I followed the directions on a packet of Knorr Parmesan Noodles (Molly loves them)- 1 and a half cups of water boiled with 1/2 a cup of milk. I added some tiny torn pieces of kale. Then I added the packet of noodles and boiled for 8 minutes. Then I melted 2 T of butter in a casserole dish, added 2 T lemon juice and spread out the scallops in it, being sure to mix them all up. Then I liberally sprinkled garlic powder all over the scallops as well as some salt. I kicked the oven up to broil, put the scallops in and timed them for 8 minutes. I put everything on the plates and devoured!

Day 27- Kale!

I'm always trying to get more iron into our diets. I would eat spinach every dinner but it's not a good idea to eat it too often since it can cause kidney stones in men. So to change up our leafy greens and get lots of iron in, I love cooking with kale. It's in practically every supermarket, realatively cheap, super rich in iron and vitamins, and easy to prepare. It doesn't have a strong taste but does have a bit of a rougher texture than spinach. One of the best (and yummiest) ways to cook kale is to make kale chips. These are great as a side dish with dinner but are also a wonderful and nutricious snack. I've tried several times to make them to snack on throughout the week but I always end up eating the entire batch as soon as they are baked. Oh well!
First, line a cookie sheet with foil and spray it with olive oil spray. Then rinse an entire bunch of kale and pat it dry. Tear the kale into pieces (slightly larger than bite sized) and toss any hard stems. Spread out the pieces on the cookie sheet and spray olive oil over the whole batch. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put in the oven at 300 and bake 10-15 minutes. They are done with they are deliciously crispy.

Day 26- Lucas's Pinto Beans

The only downside to this recipe is that you have to stay busy outside of the house or it's pure torture to hang around inside, smelling the deliciousness all day long and waiting to eat them. TMI, but if you don't want to have gas later on, soak the beans (1 lb) overnight in water and a few dashes of salt in the crockpot. Then drain and rinse. You don't have to do this step but it's nice! Put the beans back in the crockpot with 10 C of water with 2 cloves of garlic (mashed but not cut) and a few big chunks of onion, uncut, and 2 whole jalapeno peppers, uncut, plus salt and 2 bay leaves and half of a lime with a dash or 2 of lemon juice. Put the crockpot on high and leave it for 7 hours. If you have to leave the house, you can put it on low, it doesn't really matter. After, saute some diced onions and diced garlic in a pan with a dash of oil. You can also add some diced (and deseeded) jalapeno. Then add to the beans. Also add a beef bouillon cube. Taste and add black pepper, salt, and cumin to make it how you like it. It will seem juicer than ideal, but it thickens as it sits. Scoop some into a bowl, add a little shredded cheese, and dip some chips. We eat this alllllll week! (It freezes well too!)

Day 25- Doctoring Lunch

In my attempt to catch up, here's a "cheating" recipe. I've had a can of cream of potato soup in the pantry forever. It's one of Emaw's favorites so she gave it to me when I had the baby since she knew I wouldn't be cooking. Sweet. So for lunch on this rainy and blah day, I decided to doctor up that can of soup to make it better. First, I poured the can into a bowl and microwaved until piping hot. Then I added splashes of chicken broth until I got to a thinner consistency since cream of potato soup is pretty thick. Then I grated some cheddar cheese on top along with some chopped fresh green onion from the garden. I thought about adding a little sour cream but didn't have any on hand. You could substitute plain greek yogurt if you wanted, but I'm having it without. Also, add a sprinkle of black pepper and bacon bits if you have them. Close enough for lunch to my homemade baked potato soup recipe and it only took 5 minutes. I'll be sure to post my homemade recipe another day!

Day 24- Man, I'm Really Behind...

We've had some crazy chaos lately so I've gotten really behind with the updating. In fact, I think I've actually somehow lost track. So yeah, it may end up being 363 days instead of 365. I'll try to catch up again somewhere.

Today's recipe: Stroganoff. If you're like me, you have a couple of ziploc bags of ground meat in the freezer at all times. Each bag has about 1 pound. First, boil some water and throw in some egg noodles. These are the cheap yellow noodles usually found at the very bottom shelf of the supermarket. I only use them for this recipe. I'm sure you could try some whole grain pasta or something to be healthy, but I've never tried it with this recipe. I'm old-school. The noodles should boil for about 10 minutes. Just pull one out and taste it and when they are done, drain them and set aside.

While the noodles are cooking, throw a pound of ground beef/turkey/pork/whatever in a large skillet. It doesn't need to be thawed. On medium high heat, watch it and turn it over every once and a while, scraping the cooked side with a fork to crumble the meat. Once it's cooked through, you can drain the fat or leave it. I always leave it because I like my meals to be more flavorful, plus I buy 85 ground beef anyway. Don't get 90 or 95, it's pretty bland- You might as well get ground turkey. Anyway, season it with a liberal amount of cajun seasoning (Tony's, etc) and then stir in a can of cream of mushroom soup. I like to add a can of mushrooms as well. To give it some green, I've added spinach before too. It really didn't change the flavor or anything so it's a good way to sneak in a vegetable serving!

Put some noodles on a plate, top with the stroganoff and you're ready to eat. You can add a dollop of sour cream to each plate if you like too. It gives it an even creamier texture and a more savory flavor though it's good without too.

Day 23- Nonno's Mushroom Risotto

This risotto is so good, I can never make enough and always end up practically licking the pan. I can't take credit for it though; it's my dad's (Nonno's) creation. It's super easy to make but tastes like a restaurant-worthy gourmet treat and goes well with practically anything. First, heat up about 2 and a half cups of chicken or vegetable stock on a small pot on the stove. Seperately, melt 1/4 of a stick of real butter in a large skillet/saute pan. Add 1 onion, diced and saute with 1 chopped clove of garlic for a few minutes. Add 1 cup of risotto and toast it for about 3-4 minutes. Now here's the trick- add the hot chicken stock a ladleful at a time, letting it cook in, stirring. After 2-3 ladles and some stirring, add some chopped mushrooms. Continue adding the hot stock, a ladelful at a time until it's good and creamy. Overall, this whole process should take about 20 minutes. Once it's good a creamy, give it a taste to make sure it's delicious and the perfect consistency, similar to rice but creamier. Then let it sit a minute, off of the heat. Add a few sprinkles of parmesan cheese and stir it all in. Serve hot.

Day 22- Asian Grilled Chicken Salad

I love this salad- it's sweet and savory at the same time. Plus, it's an excellent lunch or a great light dinner, and it's very simple to make. First, liberally sprinkle some Chinese 5 Spice on a couple of small chicken breast tenders and then pan grill them on the stove. Cube them and add to some spinach and/or mixed greens. Add some canned (drained) mandarin oranges, some dried cranberries, some chopped sugar snap peas, and some chopped walnuts. For the dressing, mix some hoisin sauce (store bought in a jar) with a teensy splash of sesame oil (it's very, very strong so be careful!) salt and pepper, and a few light splashes of apple cider vinegar. Mix it all together and put a little tossed into the salad. Go light at first as the dressing is very strong but super tasty. You can always add more if you need it! Be sure to get a little of each ingredient in each bite as the flavors combine very well!

Day 21- Asian-Tied Trout with Broccoli and Millet Salad

Tonight's dinner was very easy though a lot of things were going at once and the cleanup was a bit more involved after. Totally worth it with the deliciousness though! First, I defrosted a few filets of trout. Next, I toasted a cup of millet in a medium pot for a few minutes and then added about 3 cups of chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover and cook about 20 minutes. While that was cooking, I chopped some heads of broccoli and put them in one of my lovely microwavable casserole dishes with about a half inch of water. Zap on high for 10 minutes. In a small saucepan, melt a third of a cup of butter (about 5 T) and add a small handful of brown sugar, about 3 T soy sauce, 2 tsp white vinegar, black pepper, and a couple of cloves of (minced) garlic. Stir it and cook till boiling then remove from heat. I put a splash of olive oil in a large skillet and heated it over medium heat. I used a brush to brush the trout filets with the butter mixture and then put them in the skillet. Let them cook about 3 minutes then flip and brush the other side, cooking another 3 minutes. I poured the extra sauce over the broccoli, which I drained and had put in a nice bowl. I also halved a bunch of cherry tomatoes from the garden and threw them in a large bowl with some chopped green onions (enough to be about a cup when chopped) and some chopped basil (enough to be about 1/3 a cup when chopped) This is why it's so useful to have an herb garden! I tossed all of this in the bowl with a splash of olive oil, a few splashes of balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Then I added the millet and tossed it all together. I plated the trout and put the bowl of millet salad and the bowl of broccoli on the table for serving. The flavors all complimented one another very gracefully. We both had multiple servings!

Day 20- Icing!

On the tails of yesterday's brownie post, here's my recipe for the most delicious homemade buttercream icing. Melt a stick of real butter in the microwave in a big Pyrex measuring cup. Don't try to use margarine to save calories, that's bulls*t; this is icing, people, it's supposed to taste good. When it's melted, add a tsp of vanilla extract. Then add a cup of powdered sugar and stir. Then add another cup of powdered sugar and stir. Then add a small splash of milk to make it creamy. If you want a thicker consistency, add more powdered sugar. You can also add food coloring, of course. Refridgerate any leftovers but note that it will firm up a lot when cold. You can always zap it in the microwave for a few seconds if you need it thinner after. Sugar rush!!

Day- 17? Something...

If you have a toddler/preschooler like me, you're constantly trying to find creative ways of getting good nutrition into that little body. Mine has good days and bad days, like any other kid. To make up for the "bad" days of eating, I try my hardest to make the good days count even more. An easy way to load up extra nutrition (on a good day or a bad day) is to make what we've dubbed Sneaky Soup. My child simply loves soup, especially tomato-based ones. But like many toddlers, often has "texture issues" and therefore, likes only the "juice" from the soup and shoves aside anything solid. So to make the soup "juice" count, you can try pureeing a veggie soup though this still creates a bit of texture that the pickiest of eaters at which will turn up a nose. Or you can try this- keep a bottle plain V8 vegetable juice in the fridge. Pour some into a bowl and microwave for a minute or two on high until it's pretty warm/hot. Seperately, microwave 1/4 C of water until boiling. Add a beef bouillon cube to the water and smush up until mixed. If you have some on hand in the fridge, you can substitute this with actual beef stock. Mix the beef water with the warm V8 so that it's a very watery/soupy consistency. Sprinkle a tiny bit of salt and pepper. I add a little onion powder and garlic powder for extra flavoring. And there you go. At least one serving a veggies and some protein if you get real beef for the bouillon cube. Not too shabby. *You can also make your own beef broth/stock and freeze it in ice cube trays for easier (and healthier) Sneaky Soup creations.

Day 18- A New Invention!

This just in! Mega-chocolate craving tonight resulted in a new invention! Huzzah! Super-Quick Individual Brownie Goos! Ok, ok, the name needs work. I'll take suggestions. Anyway, first off, melt a stick of butter in the microwave. Stir in a cup of sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/3 c of cocoa, 1/2 c of flour, and 1 egg. Eat as much of the delicious dough as you want and trust me, you will. Then, pour a "serving" into an individual ramekin (I have great le creuset ones from Marshall's) and microwave on level 7 for 1 minute. *Note: It will be EXTREMELY hot so wait till it cools a little before diving your face in! But definately enjoy it while it's warm and preferrably with a big glass of ice cold milk. The best part is that you can save the extra dough in the fridge (in an air-tight container) to make more individual servings later! It's like those warm delight thingys but way cheaper. Ok, now I want more, off to eat more brownie goo!

Day 17- Greek Pita Pizzas

Today, we had an awesome playdate with some lovely ladies so I made lunch: Greek Pita Pizzas. First, I mixed up a large bunch of basil from the garden with a handful of spinach, a handful of parsley, a few cloves of garlic, some fresh oregano, a handful of parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and a fourth of a cup of olive oil all in the mini food processor to make a nice pesto. Then put 4 pieces of (whole wheat) pita bread onto a foil-lined cookie sheet and spread each with the pesto. I put a few leaves of spinach on each then diced a fresh tomato and sprinkled on the pitas. I also sprinkled some feta cheese and diced up some fresh mushrooms on each. Add a few sprinkles of parmesan cheese and some fresh pepper. Drizzle each with olive oil. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Cut into wedges (fourths) with a pizza cutter and serve!

Day 16- Taco Soup to Clear Your Sinuses

This is one of my very favorite soups. Not only does it freeze exceptionally well for leftovers, but it also is terrific when you're feeling under the weather. It's also extremely easy to make. I normally make a double batch so that I can freeze at least two nights' worth for later dinners. The only problem with this soup is that it normally requires a trip to the supermarket for me since I don't often have a lot of canned veggies on hand, fyi.

First, saute a pound or 2 of ground beef/turkey/venison/whatever in a very large pot. Add a diced yellow onion. White works in a pinch but yellow is sweeter. Saute those together for a few minutes. Then get your buff arms ready for opening a lot of cans. Pour them all right into the pot: 2 cans Italian Style Diced Tomatoes, 1 can Rotel (MILD, important because it will be spicy, don't worry!) 2 cans Corn, 1 can Pinto Beans, 1 can Black Beans, 1 small package of regular Taco Seasoning, and 1 small package of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Powder. Bring it all to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cook covered for 30 minutes. It's also good to shred a little cheddar on top of each serving just before eating. Leftovers are good in the fridge or you can freeze some for a later date!

Day 15- The Most Delicious Grilled Cheese Sammich Ever

This recipe has been honed and perfected by my lovely husband. It's his masterpiece, and I can't get enough of it. He has to fix at least 5 sandwiches when he makes this for the 2 of us. Granted, if you're the type of person who slaps a slice of that orange "cheese" in the wrapper on white bread and thinks it's "Grilled Cheese," you might not be ready. Just a warning.

First, take every kind of cheese you have in the fridge-- mozzarella, swiss, provolone, havarti, orange cheddar, white cheddar, whatever. Grate/shred it all in a big bowl and mix it up. In a small pan, heat up some butter and sauted some onion slices until clear and lightly browned over medium heat. Slice up a fresh tomato fairly thin. Then heat up a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Melt some butter in it and sop it up onto both sides of two slices of bread (whole wheat) and leave them in the pan to toast. Turn them over and put some cheese on one of the slices, then cover with the toasted side of the other slice. When it's toasted again, turn the whole sandwich over to toast the last side. Then put the sandwich on a plate and open it up. Add the sauted onions and the slices of fresh tomatos in, put it back together, and eat! To round it off, you can serve with soup of some sort but it's also good as a stand alone sandwich.

Day 14- Yogurt!

I'm a few hours late on this post but it was the weekend, so whatevs. Last night we made yogurt in the crockpot, one of our favorite things. We're big Greek Yogurt Eaters here. Lucas likes them plain-Jane; I like them as the protein in a smoothie. It's also great frozen. And Greek Yogurt is expensive! So why not make it yourself? Get a half gallon of milk- skim if you want fat free, whole if you want creamier, anything in between is fine too. You can even get the half-priced milk that is about to expire because you'll use the whole thing right away. Pour all of the milk into the crockpot and set it on low for 3 hours. After 3 hours, turn the crockpot off and mix in a small container of regular plain Greek yogurt- just read the back bottom of the label to make sure it says "contains active cultures" on it. Then get a big beach towel and wrap the whole crockpot up in it. Leave it like this for 12 hours. When the 12 hours is up, you have yummy yogurt! Put it into a container and refridgerate. It will be a bit runnier than normal yogurt but that's because it has a ton of whey protein in it which is super healthy (and expensive to buy!) And some may think it's a little on the tart side, so it's good to mix in some fruit. If you want it thicker and less tart, you can drip off the whey using cheese cloth but this takes a few hours. The end result is delicious though and then you can use the seperated whey in chili, casseroles, just about anything you make, to sneak in extra protein! Also, you can pour some yogurt into small plastic containers and freeze or for smoothies! Enjoy!

Day 13- Lucas's Kitchen Adventures

Every once in a while, Lucas decides to cook dinner. I'm hesitant to allow him such free reign over what is normally MY domain, particularly because his "creations" are quite hit-or-miss. More frequently, the latter. But, he's been on a roll lately so I allowed him this rare opportunity to impress not only myself but also my ever-faithful readers. My fabulous uncle filled our freezer with lots of goodies from his hunting and fishing excursions, so tonight Lucas is making trout with his favorite cooking tool, the cast-iron skilled with ridges. He soaked the trout in buttermilk to release some of the "gamey" flavor. Then he seasoned the trout with salt and pepper. He coated the skillet with butter and threw the fish on medium high heat. He cooked them half-way through, took the fish off and lined the bottom of the skillet with thin slices of lime and put the fish on top of the limes and covered the skillet with a pot lid and returned to the heat to finish cooking. Then he made a lemon-butter sauce to top the fish when serving. He also tossed up a salad with the leftover Red Quinoa from the other night, sliced cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, lemon juice, lime juice, salt, and pepper. He also threw in chopped up leftover grilled eggplant and artichoke with a dash of balsamic vinegar. And that was dinner a la Lucas!

Day 12- In-A-Hurry Tapas Night

Since Fridays are reasons to celebrate, well, anything, we often like to have a little treat for dinner instead of the same-old cooking. And what with 2 kids and this tough economy, we can't exactly splurge on going out every Friday. So we've learned how to do the "going out" at home. For me, being a foodie, the best part of going out is the appetizers. And because I simply love a variety of things all at once, tapas is way to go for me. For those of you who may not know, tapas are (spanish) appetizers and pronounced to sound like "topless" so that when you say you are going to a "Tapas Bar" tonight, people look at you strangely.

The staple of any tapas night is, of course, a cheese plate. We often have various fancy cheeses on hand so I cut up a few different ones on a plate and throw on some crackers and grapes and olives, nuts, and raw veggies as well. You can also make a killer dipping sauce with a little butter and blue cheese crumbles zapped in the microwave till melted, then stir in a splash of milk. Crackers topped with half of a red cherry tomato are divine with this sauce. Always serve your tapas on a fancy plate with 2 glasses of wine and some candles. Bam, instant gourmet night. Your honey will think you are so creative and awesome, it's worth it just to impress! To go the extra mile, get one of those tiny champagne-for-two bottles from World Market to keep in the pantry and pop out when needed. Perfection.

Another refinement I've made on the Tapas Night is to make mini bruchettas. Walmart sells those miniture crunchy toast-looking things for 98 cents, near the deli. I always have at least 2 packs on hand for such occasions and because they are so simple to fancy-up when guests unexpectedly pop in. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and lay out the mini-toasts. Add a little blue cheese to some and top with a pecan or a walnut. To others, add a tiny slice of provolone or mozzarella cheese, a tiny slice of salami, and a tiny scoop of jarred olive salad. And to others, add a tiny scoop of goat cheese and a little slice of a jarred roasted red bell pepper. Pop in the oven at 350 for 5-10 minutes and serve on a fancy plate. Instant whore-derves. That's right...whore-derves. You know you love it.

Day 11- A Simple Salad

Today's recipe is an easy lunch recipe or for a light dinner. First, add a half of a cup of quinoa (red or regular) to a whole cup of water and cook on high heat for 10-15 minutes or until all of the water is gone. Then pour this into a medium-sized bowl and toss with a diced fresh tomato, some feta cheese, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a clove of minced garlic. You can also give it a dash of olive oil to hold it together. And you can mix it all with some fresh spinach if you'd rather a green salad. Easy and light, particularly with a glass of cool lemonade!

Day 10- Blueberry Buckle

This weekend, we picked blueberries at The Blueberry Farm in Central, LA. It was fabulous family outing. The girls loved it and proved quite adept at picking the perfectly sweet blueberries. Even though it's the tail end of the season, there were still plenty of berries for us. We ended up with about 2 and a half pounds. At $2/lb, it was a steal! It's been a few days since we picked them so our supply has considerably diminished due to our grazing. But we still have enough left to make a delicious dessert- Blueberry Buckle. First, stir together 1/4 C melted butter and 3/4 C sugar with 1 egg. Then add 2 C flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 C milk. Blend it all together; it will be thick. Then gently stir in 2 C fresh blueberries. Pour it into a baking dish sprayed with some oil so it won't stick too badly. In another bowl, beat together 2/3 C brown sugar, 1/2 C flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/3 C cold butter. It won't mix completely and will be rather crumbly, that's fine. Sprinkle this mixture all over the blueberry buckle. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. When the blueberry buckle is done, serve it hot/warm with or without a scoop or cold vanilla ice cream and a cup of warm coffee for the perfect afternoon treat with company!

Day 9- Salmon

I'm feeling quite "under the weather" so the thought of cooking dinner and then cleaning the kitchen is just not there tonight. Alas, I must feed myself and my family, so we'll keep it simple tonight. Simpler than even my simple standards. We eat salmon a lot around here, you'll start to notice. Averaging once a week. Every few months, I get a big slab of salmon at Albertson's from the seafood/deli section, take it home, cut it into individual filets, and freeze them. They defrost fairly quickly, under 30 minutes, in some lukewarm/tepid water so it makes a quick and easy meal. I try to rotate my salmon recipes so we don't get too tired of having it one way but we do tend to repeat our favorites.

Tonight, Balsamic Glazed Salmon. Defrost the salmon filets in some water. Preheat the oven to 400. Meanwhile, put a small sauce pan (I have one similar to this from Bed, Bath, and Beyond: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=111213&RN=916&) Very useful. Dice a clove or 2 of garlic and saute it in the pan with some olive oil. After a minute or so, add a liberal splash of cheap white wine (remember, I keep it in the fridge for cooking), a plop of honey, about a fourth of a cup of balsamic vinegar, a plop of dijon mustard, and salt and pepper. Cook all of that on medium heat for a few minutes, stirring to mix. It's ready after a few minutes when it starts to get thick. Line a baking dish (I use the Le Creuset ones from Marshall's) with foil, spray with oil, and lay out your salmon filets on it. Pour the sauce over the filets. Sprinkle some oregano on the filets. Bake about 8-10 minutes. Salmon is best with a little pink in the middle- hard to tell since salmon IS pink, but you know what I mean or you'll learn what I mean. Whatever. When plating the salmon, be sure to scoop up the extra sauce for topping.

I also made Red Quinoa with the salmon. We get it in the bulk aisle at Whole Foods. It's an excellent grain and way better than boring old brown rice. Take a small saucepan and fill with 2 cups of water and 1 cup of the quinoa. Stir it a bit to make sure most of the quinoa sinks to the bottom. Put on medium-high heat and time it about 20 minutes. When all the water is out and the quinoa has expanded a bit, it's ready. Taste to your preference.

And to round out the meal, I added a sweet potato that needed eating. Rinse and slice into half inch thick circles. Large circles, I cut in half so that the pieces were all mostly the same size. Sweet potatoes are tricky like that. I laid them all flat on a foil lined baking dish sprayed with oil. Then I took a stick of butter and sliced a few bits of it with a butter knife onto the sweet potato. Certainly don't use the whole stick, but put a little bit of butter on most of the slices. Just a dab. Then I sprinkled it all with a little brown sugar. And the gave it a splash or two of bourbon. Bake in the oven (400, like the salmon) for 20 minutes and check for tenderness. It may take closer to 30 depending on your oven and your softness-preference.

And that's dinner tonight!

Day 8- Grilled Again

We grilled again today for the 4th of July. One of my family's favorites for grilling is Artichokes and Blossom Sauce. Even when they are expensive, we still do it because since it's an appetizer, you only need a couple. First, shove the artichokes whole into a large pot. Cover them completely with water. They will float so try to wedge them against the sides so they stay under. If needed, get a pot lid that is smaller than your pot and lay it on top of the artichokes to keep them down. Cover the large pot with its appropriate lid. Turn the burner up to high and set a timer 30 minutes. When the timer goes off, carefully pull a leaf off of one of the artichokes with a pair of tongs (not thongs, like my mother says) to see if they are done. "Done" means the leaf comes off fairly easily. If they are down, dump out the water and put the artichokes on a cutting board to cool off a bit. Use the tongs, they are super hot. After they are cool enough for you to handle, slice each artichoke in half with a knife. A serated knife works best for this. Lay them flat side down on a tray to bring out to the grill. Grill them rounded side down for 15 minutes then flip them to flat side down for 10 minutes. Bring them in and serve with Blossom Sauce. To make the sauce, I squirt about a half a cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Mayonnaise into a bowl with about a fourth of a cup of ketchup. Stir in a tablespoon of minced garlic. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Add about half a tablespoon of onion powder and about a fourth of a tablespoon of Tony's Cajun Seasoning. Stir it all up and serve as a dipping sauce for the artichoke leaves. Remember, the best part of the artichoke is the heart. Easily scoop out the pokey parts with a spoon and then eat the whole heart and even the stem with the sauce. Delicious, even as leftovers!

Day, what is it now, 7?

Today we grilled burgers and let me just say, my husband makes some killer burgers. He has perfected his recipe over the years and found that the simplest way of doing it is often the best. Go figure. We buy 80/20 ground beef because it's best for burgers. The leaner stuff will just fall apart. He divides it into how much he'll need per patty. Then he sprinkles salt and pepper and Tony's Cajun Seasoning on them as well as liberal amounts of fresh chopped parsley and some chopped green onion from the garden. He also sprinkles a little cumin on each one. Then he forms each into a patty. They are much juicer if you make the patties the night before and let them rest in the fridge to absorb the seasoning but they are still delicious if you make them just before they go on the grill. Grill on hot coals till done, at least 30 minutes if the coals aren't hot. Always cut one open to make sure the inside is cooked because the outside can be deceiving. You don't want them too well done though, a little pink is fine. He likes to toast the buns on the grill too and then top with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, and whatever else you may like on a burger. Enjoy!

Day 6- London Broil, Roasted Butternut Squash, and Asparagus

My dad cooked a delicious dinner tonight. Truly fabulous. He always buys london broil on sale whenever it IS on sale and sticks them in the freezer until needed. He thaws one the day before in the fridge then rubs it with a Williams Sonoma Meat/Grilling Rub. He uses a super old and heavy cast iron skillet and cooks it on medium-low for 5 minutes per side, literally doing nothing to it while it cooks. Then he puts it on the cutting board for 5 minutes to rest. Then he slices it into thin slices to serve. Any leftovers (which there are little!) go into a salad the next day! For sides, he did roasted butternut squash. Peel it with a veggie peeler then cut it into chunks. He likes to do one inch cubes so that it's softer. I prefer half inch cubes because I like it to brown more. Whichever. Line a pan with foil and spray olive oil on it. Lay out the cubes and drizzle oil, sprinkle salt and pepper. Roast at 350-400 for about 20-30 minutes. When the edges have browned, they are done. For the asparagus, rinse and snap off the touch ends of the stems. Line a pan with foil and spray it with olive oil. Drizzle oil on the asparagus, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven at 350-400 for about 20 minutes. It's perfect plain but for fancier results, you can top with a little goat cheese or parmesan cheese or even feta. My favorite is the goat cheese. And that's the perfect meal!!

Day 5- Ya-Ya's Margaritas

Once again, I didn't cook last night since family was in town. We had Albasha's Greek and Lebanese- Chicken Schwarma and Gyros Combo Plates. Best in town! It's an unofficial tradition in our family when Ya Ya comes to town. Anyway, so the recipe for Day 5 will be Ya-Ya's super yummy margaritas...of which we have consummed many since the babies have been particularly high-maintanence lately. As Lucas says, they are "100% pure" and very delicious. Watch out though, they are strong though they don't taste it at all. And they aren't for those who enjoy sweet drinks (like Mom) so they may not be for everyone but we think they are fan-tastic! To make 1, juice 1 and a half limes into a martini shaker with ice. Add a half a cup of water and 1.25 oz of Agave Silver Tequila. Add 1 packet of Stevia. Shake and pour and drink up!