I don’t think I’ve done one of these in a while…and the hazard with that is that I forget what I’ve made.  Here are two from this week that are keepers though…

First, we love Indian food around here…even the kids if it isn’t too spicy….seriously, Maddie picked take-out Indian over Chick-fil-A after her soccer game this week.  In any case, this healthy recipe could not have been easier and was such a quick weeknight meal.  It would make a great side too but we ate it over rice. 

Chickpea Curry with Basmati Rice

Photography by Carolyn Tesini, Cooking Light January 2013

I also made a new spinach salad this week to go with our standby gnocchi that is different each time we make it….depending on what we have on hand.  I love fruit and nuts in my salads and the candied/curried pecans in this salad are addictive (warning….don’t make extra if you have no self control like me!)  I’ve never made my own candied pecans and it was EASY (something I really didn’t need to know!)

Spinach Salad with Curried Pecans, Blue Cheese and Apples

Image and Recipe via Baked Bree Blog

I am sure I’ve made other new recipes since the last time I posted in this series….but honestly, I cannot remember.   I am off for spring break next week but am determined to get back on the cooking wagon when the kids are back in school!

Happy Weekend!

My birthday was last week (two years off from a major one, yikes).  I was spoiled by my family on the actual day….and then was taken to a wonderful dinner Friday night and cooked for, and generally waited on all weekend, as I spent literally EVERY waking moment on my new website. 

Maddie and Chris made me a Cherry Clafoutis on Saturday night.  Watching them make it was fun….eating it was even more fun.  (BTW, Maddie had in her head that I needed a cherry cake….I was impressed that my husband pulled out not one but two cookbooks and made it happen.  We were both initially a bit perplexed as to what she could make with cherries!)

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This week, I need to give the kids a little quality time after being so engrossed in work over the weekend.  I thought we could make some fun heart shaped brownies and have a playdate one day.  I think this is one Pinterest inspired project that I can handle.

 Martha Stewart

What is on tap in your world?

I dropped the ball on food talk over the holidays but I’ve got a reinvigerated interest in cooking more healthful meals for our family and it goes hand in hand with my personal resolution to lose some weight and get healthier.  I’ve gained nearly 15 lbs since we moved to Dallas just over two years ago….not good.  Anyhow, I joined WeightWatchers® online and am loving the flexibility of the plan.

Chris was out of town for work all last week so I really didn’t cook much in the way of meals, per se…..but I’ll share a few things I did get around to making.

First, Maddie and I made Banana, Oat, Chocolate Chip Muffins from the blog Emily Bites.  Maddie loves the combo of chocolate and banana and I’ve been finding one of these muffins is great with my morning coffee and keeps me filled up until lunch.

From the same blog as the above, I made muffin tin mock French Dips.  I’ve got to admit I was glad as I started to assemble them that Chris was out of town….I am not sure he would have been overly impressed with them as his dinner but they were good  re-heated as well….so they made an easy lunch for me later in the week.  For what it is worth, our nanny tried one while I was out the next day and made me email her the link to the recipe right away before she left.  I found them to be a bit salty but other than that they were a fun little treat.  I like the idea of using the won ton wrappers and muffin tins to make individual portions.

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Last weekend I made Bircher Muesli for the first time.  Before I had Maddie I worked in private equity and traveled to Europe for business a fair bit.  This was often a staple on the hotel breakfast bars.  I looked at a ton of recipes online to figure out how to make it and ended up putting old fashioned oats in a bowl with chopped dried prunes, apricots and raisins.  I then soaked this mixture in a combination of fat free plain yogurt and milk overnight.  In the morning, I served with grated red apple.   Yummmmmm.

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Finally, last night I made baked ziti and an autumn salad.  Friday is usually take out night around here but I am trying to change that when I can so I can try to stay on track with my goals.  I also think that my husband was happy to come home to a cooked meal rather than being diverted to Indian or Thai on his way home from the airport last night!

The baked ziti recipe was very basic and would definitely be a hit with kiddos.  It makes a lot and at first I thought the portion size (it makes 12 servings if you are counting points) would be scant.  But I ended up not being able to eat it all with the big salad too.  The roasted butternut squash which was tossed in the smallest amount of olive oil, chopped rosemary and a pinch of sea salt was to die for.  I could have eaten it plain for dessert it was so good.  I’ll definitely be making it as a side even when I am not making the salad!  The salad greens are Arugula and definitely were key to the salad’s success.  Finally, it was super quick….the kids and I ran the grocery store at 5 and I had everything ready to go by the time they were done with their dinner and ready for bath time and stories.

So, that’s about it from last week.

Did you make anything worth sharing?

Sorry I’ve been so absent.  I have been racing around like a mad woman trying to get the house in order for our holiday guests, parties at the kids schools, adult holiday parties, holiday activities with the kids, lots of orders at Maddie G, continued work on my new website,   etc.  Plus, I have been sick since Wednesday and have officially lost my voice completely (kinda think the kids and husband are enjoying this….as I cannot tell them what to do!)

I’ve enjoyed a teeny bit of downtime this weekend….not wanting to turn on live TV this weekend with the kiddos around…..Maddie and I snuggled watching taped episodes of Ina Garten and Giada.  (I even found Maddie watching an episode when I was off doing something else).

But, given what’s been going on in the world and the tragedy faced by those in CT, I feel more grateful than ever that I have these mundane moments to share with my family.  I cannot stop thinking about, and praying for, those who have been touched by this tragedy. 

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I only cooked twice last week as we had plans out the other nights.  One meal was a tried-and-true and one is a definite repeater.  First, we had a cold spell early last week (today it was 75 here!) and I was craving some comfort food.  I have been making Cooking Light’s Italian Meatloaf with Fresh Basil and Provolone for about 10 years now.  I remember it being served at a cooking club I was in in DC way back and thinking….who the heck would serve meat loaf for a cooking club.  But, this meatloaf is so easy and so delish.  Sun-dried tomatoes (which I buy julienned so I don’t have to soak and cut per the recipe), smoked provolone and fresh basil make this such a great meatloaf.  I serve it with mashed potatoes, peas, gravy and rolls.  Also, I should note that we don’t even finish 1/2 of this so I freeze 1/2 of it for another meal when I am in a pinch.  (If you don’t have a foodsaver….I recommend one….I think my husband about had a heart attack when I asked for one for my birthday a few years ago…..but we love it!)

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The other meal I made was Ina Garten’s Winter Minestrone.  This was pretty easy to make, very filling and tasted even better for lunches later in the week!  It was good for the kids too because it was thick…..so I could just give them less broth to contain the mess!  I served with crusty bread and parmesan.

image via moi

This week will be a crazy one with family streaming in Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  My stepsons are visiting from Australia and we are looking forward to it.  The kids love their big brothers and the eldest’s girlfriend, Natalie.  So, please excuse me the next couple of weeks if my posting is sporadic (what’s new, right?)  If I can get some good photos I’ll try to share some new additions around our house….the hard press has been on to get furniture, rugs and accessories in place before everyone arrives.  And then in the new year…..I am so excited to share my new website with you.

Good luck to you all this week as you finish preparing for the holidays!

Phew, what a crazy two weeks.  The Home Tour yesterday was a huge success but it was a CRAZY day.  We were blessed with incredible weather and the homes looked fabulous!  Chris was out of town a lot the last week so I didn’t cook much while he was away. 

Last weekend I made a bread pudding from one of my go to cookbooks, The Joy of Cooking.  Actually, I usually do a combo of that recipe (which I linked to a place I found it on the internet) and the the ones from the big yellow gourmet cookbook but my result pretty much comes from the above link.  Excuse my (lack of) photography skills.  I took this photo as an afterthought…..and had been sitting at the counter enjoying wine, reading magazines and watching my husband cook for a while at this point!  (My favorite way to spend a Saturday night!)

And I made my tried and true caramel sauce to drizzle over.   This sauce is to die for and so easy to make!  Scroll to the bottom of the recipe in the link for the toffee sauce (although, I will tell you the sticky date is my husband’s birthday cake of choice and this is a great recipe.)

I really only managed to cook weeknight meals two nights last week.  Each was simple and pretty good.  Nothing to scream praises about but solid and relatively healthy.  First I made a Tomato soup that has fennel and uses whole wheat baguette to thicken it.  It is a solid soup recipe from the cookbook “Cook Yourself Thin.”  We had ours with a grilled cheese which probably defeated the purpose but sure was good.

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The other recipe I made was a pasta and chicken sausage recipe from the blog Skinnytaste.  I find most of her recipes to be pretty good.  This one is a Pasta with Butternut Sauce, Spinach and Spicy (Chicken) sausage.  The only modifications I made to the recipe were to add a few toasted walnuts, used mild sausage because of the kids, and cut the sausage out of the casing before I cooked it.

image via SkinnyTaste

And now that home tour deadlines are behind me I can start to focus on finishing up our Christmas decorating.  I started to add little touches last week but have a ways to go.  I’ve got four of these little guys on our kitchen table…..but took one up to the foyer to try to get better light….

My current obsession is finding magnolia garland for over our fireplaces. So, finding that, getting presents wrapped and mailed to our Australia family and getting my Christmas cards out are on my list for this weekend.

Happy Weekend!

I mentioned I am trying to cook more at home during the week.  It may be a no-brainer for many of you but I hate the weeknight rush to get food on the table….which often leads to taking the easy (and unhealthy) route of take out.  We’ve been much better about eating at home of late.  Here are a few keepers with my notes from the last week.  (Click the links for the recipes straight from the source.)

Spaghetti with Creamy Butternut Leek Parmesan Sauce.  Source: Gina from Skinnytase.com

This was so easy and yummy. The only change I made was to add in some toasted pine nuts just before I served. My husband was skeptical when I told him what we were having and then practically licked the pan as we were doing the dishes. I probably could have used an easier pasta to eat for the kids…..but it was a definite keeper!

Gluten Free Thai Green Curry Soup.  Source: Wheatfree Mom

This is a crockpot meal and to say it is ridiculously easy would be an understatement.  This recipe came from a woman in Canada so I wasn’t able to find the curry paste she referred to but I used 3 TBS of Thai Kitchen green curry paste.  Also, instead of eating as a soup, we had it over rice.  My husband added lots of chili sauce to make it more like a restaurant version but I kept it pretty much as written when I made it in hopes the kids would like.  As it turned out, they ate before we did…..but I think it would have been fine for them…..if served over rice because soup is too hard at this stage with a 2 and 4 year old!  If you didn’t have kids in mind, you could probably add some chilis and amp up the amount of curry paste….

Tomato Soup.  Souce, Sweet Paul Magazine

Oh my gosh was this easy and delish. I added an extra can of diced tomatoes and sprinkled some parmesan on top when I served. I didn’t love the bread as per the recipe so I’d probably skip it next time or just have fresh sliced french bread, plain and simple.

Jam Thumbprints.  Source, Ina Garten

A group I am in had a cookie exchange for our November board meeting since we won’t be formally meeting in December. I brought these and they were pretty good.  A few comments.  Don’t do what I did and leave the dough in the fridge for hours vs. 30 minutes as called for in the recipe.  It was a bit hard and crumbly to work with.  I did apricot and strawberry jam.  Next time I’d make sure the strawberry was seedless.  I would also probably make each cookie half the recommended size so they are more bite sized.  And finally, watch them  closely at the end….the coconut has a tendency to burn and there is a fine line between being ok and looking, well, burned!  

So, that’s it for last week.

Any keepers you would like to share?