"I Don't Like Vegetables" Veggie Sandwich

Dino told me he DOESN'T like vegetables the other day. Oh! So that's why I have to hide the meat and cheese under layers of vegetables when I make food for him!

Here's the sandwich that he keeps stealing from me - even though he doesn't like vegetables...not ONE!

Italian Bread slices

Cheddar Cheese

3 drops Soy Sauce

6 drops Balsamic Vinegar

Olive Oil (enough to double soy sauce and vinegar)

Dijon Mustard (course) 1 tspn

Tomato -sliced

Roasted Red Peppers - strips

1/2 Avocado - sliced

Toast one side of the italian bread slices under the broiler so that one side is crunchy and one side is nice and soft. In the meantime whisk soy sauce, vinegar and mustard together. Pull the toast out of the oven and brush soft side of both pieces with mustard dressing that you just made - kind of thick. Top with cheese and return to broiler until the cheese is melted. (I only put cheese on one slice but I put them both back in the broiler and that was yummy). Layer cheese side with veggies (those aren't veggies!!) and top with the other slice. Then eat it fast or someone else will take it!

Peanut Butter Cup Hot Cocoa

Hi! Just thought I'd pop in and tell you about something so incredibly yummy I can't believe I haven't made it before! I'm taking credit for it even though I just know people must have tried this before. It's so good!

Tablespoon of peanut butter - I just leave it on my metal spoon so I can stir it in
Hot cocoa

Scoop the peanut butter onto your metal spoon. Stir it into your hot cocoa. YUM!

If you have a Keurig or other one cup coffee maker you can just put the peanut butter spoon in the mug and use a hot cocoa k-cup. Let it brew over the spoon and the peanut butter will already be melted when it is done.

Now go try it before it gets too hot out!

Lets start with the Bad news first...tonights dinner was a TOTAL and COMPLETE FLOP, but it was fun none the less

ugh....it was one of those night where I had high hopes for dinner...a good, somewhat fancy dinner...where everything just came together perfectly, I got dinner on the table, which had already been set by the kids, at a reasonable time....ian didn't scream at one or both of them, the food was delicious, the kids were well behaved, we had wonderful conversation....yeah, well take all that and play "opposite day" and that was our dinner tonight...not sure if it was the super awesome Cupcake Vineyard "Red Velvet" that made this disastrous dinner so much fun or what??  But in the end we all had a fun (not good) dinner so I guess that's all that mattered?  Many laughs were had, liv "wood-chucked" her angel hair pasta....Trevor ate all his spinach gnocchi in two bites....i forced myself to have a few bites of everything, in between sips of wine that is...and ian had three bites bc 'his stomach was upset" LOL.  After all was said and done there were pots/pans/utensils/plates all over the kitchen, spinach covering part of the kitchen floor...flour all over the kitchen and ME....but if I HAD to pick "flop or success" I would pick OVERWHELMING success bc we all laughed and joked and were happy when the night was done.  So I guess that goes to show that not all "good" dinners have to include "good food."  

I won't name recipes for this tonight's experience bc I'm sure they are/can be delicious...maybe all the rain we had today contributed to the overwhelming soggy-ness that plagued each part of tonight's meal??  Really who the heck cares bc we are all going to bed with smiles on our face.

Enjoy!
xo
Andrea

Tuesday Thai Red Curry w. Tofu & The Family Dinner Book Review (two big thumbs up!!)

Let's start out with the book review portion of this post, partly bc the Thai Red Curry w/ Tofu recipe came from it but mainly bc I really just cannot say enough about this book...I love it.  I can't even remember where I first saw/heard of it...a magazine maybe?  I looked it up on Amazon and with 56 customer reviews all with 5 Stars I knew it had to be good so I read further...Essentially it's an entire book devoted to how important it is for a family to sit down and have dinner together.  Something that we are lucky enough to do, and have always done since we got married 8 and a half blissful years ago.  It has never occurred to me not to sit down together and eat dinner.  But this book has given me ideas on how to make the time we take to sit down together better. Simple ideas like having the kids "make" more of their dinner at the table rather than Ian and I assembling/cutting/plating for them, serving the food more family style from the table, having a pitcher of water on the table which everyone drinks from, having rules for the dinner table, no phones, not getting up, not even mom!!!  not leaving the table until after a reasonable amount spent...everyone eating the same meal, etc.  Throughout the books there are "Let's Play" boxes that give discussion ideas such as "Lets Play!  The laughing game: everyone laugh like mom, everyone laugh like dad, etc." or "Lets Play!  Where will you go? Where would you like to travel with your family? Where would you like to travel with your friends?  Where would you like to travel alone." or "Lets Play! Who are you? Describe yourself in three adjectives?  Assign three adjectives to everyone at the table."  There are so many more of these little boxes throughout the book, other random boxes are "cooks tips,"  "leftover tips," "Recite Tonight's" which are little poems/blessings...There are interviews with famous men and women (Maya Angelou, Sheryl Crow, Nora Ephron, Judge Judy" along with famous Chefs (Mario Batali, Alice Waters) all telling stories of their family dinners growing up and how they conducted family dinners in their adult lives...sprinkled throughout the these pages chock-filled with information, and stories, and beautiful colorful photos are really tasty looking recipes!  Seriously, there is just soooo much wonderful things going on in this book I find something new each time I browse through it.   

So...enough drooling over the book bc really I could go on and on and on....one of the ideas the book suggests is having dinnertime family rituals..one was something along the lines of "Taco Tuesdays."  One week we did Taco Tuesdays, which was really fun and the kids seemed to really react well to us letting the build their own at the table.  I had all of the toppings on the table in little bowls they built their own...and gobbled everything up!  Coincidence?  I will tell myself it wasn't in the fashion of wishful thinking!  

The following Tuesday for whatever reason I needed to make the Thai Red Curry w/ tofu rather than tacos (I think I had bought the veggies a few days before meaning to make it then but never did and didn't want the veggies to go bad.)  So Taco Tuesday turned into Thai Red Curry with Tofu Tuesday instead!  Hey...they both start with a "T" right?? but me some slack!  I think we will go back to the Taco Tuesday from now on bc really there are endless versions of tacos we can make, everyone in the family loves them and best of all it's nice just knowing what we will be eating on Tuesdays without having to put too much though into it.

Now...onto the recipe portion, the book technically calls it "Red Thai Curry with Shrimp"  being as I don't eat shrimp I figured tofu would be just as delicious.  One thing the author does in the recipes is has a section called "kids can" where she lists out the parts of the preparation that kids can participate in, granted if you thought about any recipe you could probably figure these step out, but I thought it was a nice touch continuing the theme of "family dinner" meaning everyone pitches in to prepare, eat, then clean up!  Which is music to my ears.

This dish was really really tasty, everyone ate it, no complaints- the only thing I would have done differently next time (and there absolutely will be a next time) is that I would add more Thai red curry paste.  I was afraid it would be too spicy for the kids if I added the full 2Tbs the recipe suggested.  Other than that I wouldn't change a thing!  This dish also accomplished another one of my goals which is to create more vegan meals...meat eaters have "Meatless Mondays" so as a vegetarian family I would like to take that move one step further...and have vegan days...yet there are no weekdays that start with a V!  So I'll just toss them in through the week the best I can.

Thai Red Curry w. Tofu 

Ingredients
vegetable oil
1 block extra firm tofu
1 red onion sliced into wedges
3 cloves garlic sliced
1tbs grated fresh ginger
2 tbs red Thai curry paste (more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
1 14ozcan unsweetened or lite coconut milk
1c low sodium chicken/vegetable (I used water bc we were out of veggie broth)
2 tbs Asian fish sauce (i omitted bc the whole vegetarian thing)
1 1/2 tbs brown sugar
1c diced tomatoes
1c snap peas, tips and tails removed
1c asparagus tips

salt and pepper to taste

chopped fresh cilantro


Directions


To prepare tofu I sliced the block of tofu into strips and sauteed in batches on med/high heat with a bit of veggie oil.  Once nice and crispy lay on a paper towel to soak up any extra oil.  Add to curry once it's finished cooking.


To prepare the red curry-
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and drizzle enough oil to film the bottom.  Add the onion and saute until soft and beginning to brown, about 4min.  Add the garlic and ginger and saute until the garlic is golden.


Reduce the heat to medium.  Add the curry paste; stir until fragrant, about 1min.


Add the coconut milk, broth, fish sauce (if using) and sugar; bring to a low simmer.


Add the remaining veggies and simmer for 2min.


Add shrimp at this point, if using, stirring often for about 3min, or until the shrimp are pink and curled.  Taste for seasonings.


Transfer the curry to a large shallow bowl.  Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.  Serve w. rice.


Source: The Family Dinner by Laurie David
I also just realized that the book has a website that looks pretty cool too- http://thefamilydinnerbook.com  off to check it out!


Enjoy!
xo
Andrea

Dino's Latest Recipe

While we were making french toast this morning Dino created his own recipe that I think is pretty brilliant!

Here are the ingredients:

1 slice white bread

crunchy peanut butter

5 chocolate chips

Take a bite of the corner of the bread. Spread peanut butter on 1/2 white bread. Smoosh chocolate chips into the peanut butter. Fold the plain side of the bread onto the peanut butter chocolate chip side and VOILA!

Crunchy PB Stuffed French Toast

French toast is my go-to super easy breakfast food. It's so easy to mix it up and make it different each time and we never get tired of it. Plus...when I have to go grocery shopping because we're running low on just about everything I know that bread/eggs/milk/butter will always be there for me. The new favorite at our house is French Toast stuffed with Crunchy Peanut Butter! Here it is for 1 toast. Double it to make 2 or three. (Hey Andrea - how good would this be with Nutella!!???)

1 tablespoon butter
2 pieces white bread
Crunchy peanut butter
1 Egg
3 tablespoons milk or half & half (I usually just eyeball it)
1 tablespoon honey
2-3 teaspoons cinnamon (I eyeball this too. I just add what seems to be like too much and then add a little bit more)
Your favorite toppings

Now put it together. I'll give you the order that Dino and I used this morning but it's pretty flexible.

Put the egg, milk, honey and cinnamon in a dish wide enough to sink a piece of bread.

Turn your stove on medium and melt the butter in a frying pan.

Spread peanut butter on one piece of bread and top with the other piece making a sandwich.

Scramble the egg mixture and dip the peanut butter sandwich in and then flip it over so that both sides are covered.

Toss it in the pan and watch carefully. Turn it over when it turns a nice brown color and brown the other side as well. PS - it will be kind of dark because of the cinnamon.

That's it. Then you can top it with all kinds of things like syrup, butter, berries, whipped cream brown sugar.

We're butter and syrup guys here:

Greek Night! Spanakopita & Greek Salad

I loooove Greek food...cannot get enough.  I love it so much I have not one, but TWO favorite restaurants...one local, right here in Highland Park, NJ, Pithari Taverna the other in Marlton, NJ, Kuzina by Sofia.  The reason for the two restaurants in two different areas of NJ you wonder??  Well as luck would have it, my bestest friend also looooves greek food just as much as I do..so we have a favorite by my house and a favorite by her house...that way we can eat it no matter who is visiting who.  convenient, eh??  We order the same dishes at both restaurants, a greek salad, hummus, spanakopita, fried eggplant and zucchini w/ tzatziki, we sit with our bottle of red wine and talk and eat and talk and eat and talk and eat...sometimes for hours.  

So, when I can't make it to one of the two lovely greek establishments I attempt to re-create at home...not nearly as wonderful as their dishes, but better than nothing.  So, the night of our Greek Feast we had spanakopita, tiropita, greek salad, warm pita and hummus...all except the pita and tiropita were made by me, liv (the best sous chef ever!) and my mom.  The pita and tiropita were purchased at our local middle eastern grocer.  Hopefully this will hold me over until my next visit to Pithari Terverna...must go soon!

Spanakopita 

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 pounds spinach, washed and drained
• 1 bunch scallions, white and green parts, chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 to 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 pound filo pastry sheets

Directions:

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large saute pan, add half of the spinach and saute until spinach wilts, tossing with tongs, about 2 minutes. Remove spinach and squeeze out excess liquid, then chop roughly. Repeat with remaining spinach, using 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Pour off any liquid from the pan, and add remaining olive oil.

Add scallions and saute until soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the spinach to the scallions, along with the parsley, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove from heat to cool. (This part can be done ahead and kept refrigerated).
 

Stir the feta and as much beaten egg to moisten the cooled spinach mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush a baking sheet with some of the melted butter.

Unroll the filo dough on a flat surface and keep it covered with waxed paper and a damp towel so it doesn't dry out and become brittle. Using a sharp knife, cut the filo into 3 by 11 inch strips, and recover with the towel. Use a pastry brush to brush a strip of filo with melted butter. Place a small spoonful of spinach filling 1 inch from the end of the pastry. Fold the end over the filling to form a triangle, then continue to fold up the strip in triangles, like folding up a flag. Continue with remaining strips of dough, placing filled triangles on the baking sheet and keeping them covered with a towel until all are ready to bake.

Brush the triangles lightly with butter, then bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Serve hot. (These may be frozen before baking, layering waxed paper between layers of triangles to keep them from sticking. Bake frozen triangles an extra 10 minutes.)

Source: The Food Network


Greek Salad

Ingredients

• 2 large tomatoes, cubed
• 2 Lebanese cucumbers, cubed
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
•  1/2 cup finely chopped fresh dill
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• Juice of 1 lemon

Directions
Mix the tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, olives, avocado in a large bowl with the dill, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and lemon juice.  (can it get any easier than that??)

The recipe this was based off of included fried cheese, as well as an avacado...I left both out, but may add next time I make this salad.

Source: Chuck Hughs- Greek Salad

 



Hummus

It's so hard for me to write out a recipe for hummus...bc really when we make it, which we always do...it's so cheap and easy to make!  we use the same ingredients but never measure, just add, blend, taste and adjust.  

1 can Chickpeas (reserve some bean liquid to use to thin the hummus if needed while blending)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Tahini
fresh garlic chopped
lemon juice
salt

Blend chickpeas, add other ingredients until the hummus reaches your desired taste and consistency.

Enjoy!
xo
Andrea