Summer Just Isn't Summer Without...

 The beginning of the most Insanely Good Blueberry Muffins

 Homemade Dill Pickles

 Mango Salsa - I used nectarines (instead of peaches) and it was still yummy

 Salsa (this is so close to what you get at a restaurant)

Guacamole - I couldn't get enough of this at the beach!!  Not only was it great with chips, but, it was also awesome on sandwiches!

This isn't really a "summer" recipe, but, for my next meal swap, I made Easy Italian Unstuffed Shells.  The fact that this has no ricotta cheese in it is right up my alley.

And finally, our last CSA box before vacation (most of which was donated to my parents).  I did use the two larger tomatoes and some of the nectarines for the salsa and a friend of mine took the kale to make a pasta dish.

CSA Week 9/10 and Happy July!

I really tried to update this thing on Sunday...I swear!!  But, my iCloud has been acting up and since I take all my pics on my phone and haven't figured out how to upload them without the iCloud, I just had to wait.  I haven't been cooking as much lately....blaming it on the heat!!

Week 9 CSA:  Zucchini, Corn on the Cob, Methley Plums, Apricots, Onion, and Green Beans

The plums were fabulous.  So sweet and juicy, I forgot how delicious they really are.  The apricots were equally sweet and yummy.  L enjoyed eating these as snacks.  The corn is getting better and better each week (although G and I are starting to get sick of it!!).  And the green beans were super fresh. 

For our 4th of July dinner, I whipped up some Low Fat Baked Onion Rings (ignore the slight burn, please!).  You are probably wondering....were they as good as a deep fried onion ring?  The answer is "no".  But...since they were low fat and baked, that just justified eating more :-)

And Zucchini....another veggie that I'm starting to run out of ideas for since Greg doesn't like it.  I made another version of Zucchini Bread and this time added walnuts and raisins.  Yum!



For the record...I did NOT make this cake!  We had a little birthday celebration for me, my dad, and G's dad on the 7th.  My mom brought this cake from one of my favorite bakeries back home- Clay's in Berwyn.  A layer of chocolate cake, a layer of yellow cake, and a whole lot of buttercream.  Ahh!

And finally, our Week 10 CSA box- some more apricots, lettuce, corn, peaches, potatoes, and cucumbers.  I'm planning to throw the potatoes in with a roast on Sunday, the corn is gone, L is enjoying the fruit, I devoured the lettuce, and I think I'm going to have a cucumber snack later on today.  Nothing fancy this week.  My mind is gearing up for vacation!!

The June Edition...

OMG (yes, you know it's bad when you start a post with OMG)...has it really been a MONTH since my last post?!??!  Yeah, well....I've had a good excuse, I think :-)  The little man seems to be bouncing back just fine after our scare and we are working on moving forward, taking one day at a time.  I didn't want you to think that I have been slacking in the kitchen...in fact, I made some things over the past month that were downright yummy.  So instead of me rambling through this post...consider this more of a "let's look at pictures and then click the link below the picture to learn more" kind of post.

Cheeseburger Macaroni (a June dinner for L- this one didn't make my last post)

After getting home from the hospital, L and I needed an outing...so we went and picked 5 lbs of strawberries!!  You will find the Strawberry Bread I made (below).  I also made two Strawberry Pies (but forgot to take a picture)

Here's G's Father's Day gift from me....a 6-pack of his favorite goodies.  Learn how to make one here.  You can tailor it for any occasion.

So with those strawberries, I made mini loaves of Strawberry Bread.  It's a huge hit in our house.

 CSA Week 6:  Lettuce, Kale, Sour Cherries, Pattypan Squash, Broccoli, and Sugar Peas

Not gonna lie...I was kind of getting burned out on all the lettuce and kale lately, so I decided to try something new.  Kale-Apple-Banana Smoothies.  Haven't tried them yet...they are still in the freezer.  L will be the perfect test subject :-)  The recipe is:  Blend 12oz 100% apple juice and 3-4 kale leaves (stems removed) on high for a minute.  Add 3 bananas and 2 cups of ice and blend for another 30 seconds.  So easy!

And...it's really easy to pour into bags if you use a pint glass to hold the bag.  This technique works great for soups too!

Homemade Italian Custard.  That went into the Father's Day cake I made for G.  All the recipes for the cake and the design came from the Baking with the Cake Boss cookbook.  It is definitely a great book to learn from, as it teaches you all the fun techniques that go into making an amazing cake.

And, here's the batter for the cake....it was sinful!

The finished product!!!  I'm just happy it turned out looking like the picture in the cookbook!!

I had a bunch of cherries left to use...

...so for Father's Day dinner, they made the perfect Cherry Vanilla Sauce to go on top of our (aka- my) NY Strip Steak (G is not a big cherry fan)

CSA Week 7:  Lettuce, Zucchini, Onion, Hull Peas, Cabbage, and Sweet Cherries

Blueberry Zucchini Bread (L can't get enough of this!!)

CSA Week 8:  Corn, Lettuce, Sour Cherries, Kohlrabi, Red Potatoes, and Zucchini

These potatoes were to die for and the bonus was that I had all the spices to make them.  G and I could not stop eating them. 

Homemade Peach Ice Cream....yes, please!!!  I nearly died when my Ice Cream Maker wouldn't start up.  G gave it a good whack and it started churning.  Whew!

Zucchini Bread

Mini Raspberry Pies (I made a bunch and threw them in the freezer.  They thaw nicely in the fridge)  The crust is my go-to Williams Sonoma recipe.  The filling is found here.

Cherry Pie- this was given to my parents as a thank you for watching our dogs for a week....although, I don't think the pie was necessary!

The most intimidating, little green vegetable (Kohlrabi)....

Actually makes these awesome Kohlrabi Home Fries

And....now onto L's meals for the month of July....

Mini Frittata.  I put sausage, scallions, and cheese in these.  Make them your own!

Pizza in a Sleeping Bag

Zucchini Bites

 Zucchini Brownies

Creamy Chicken Pockets

Baked Chicken Nuggets.  These are great for adults too!

Sausage Pinwheels

Mini Chocolate Muffins (loaded with broccoli and zucchini).  I tweaked the recipe and used 1 cup of White Whole Wheat Flour.

Pasta in a Vegetable Sauce

So that pretty much sums up June.  I'm exhausted just typing all this out.  Hope everyone is having a Happy 4th of July!!!  My goal is to continue to update on a weekly basis (hopefully Sunday evenings).  But...sometimes life just gets in the way :-)  Until next time...

Kitchen Khaos and CSA: Week 4

I feel like I lived in the kitchen this week.  Between making goodies for a play date, getting our CSA box, having my favorite girls over for some lunch and pampering, and cooking for the little guy, I barely had any time to relax.  But, it was a fun week with lots of goodies!!

So Tuesday L and I went to pick up our box of fruit and veggies.  What should have been about an hour round trip (or less) turned into a two and a half hour trip due to an accident that pretty much shut down 322 in Harrisburg.  Lesson learned....do not EVER leave home without snacks for the little man.  It didn't help that we were trapped in the car, during snack time, in a storm.  The worst.  But....it was kind of worth it because we got some good stuff this week.

#1- Garlic Scapes:  I have never heard of these but apparently they are the shoots that grow underground (or out of the ground) from garlic.  My weekly newsletter had an awesome recipe for pesto and if you know me, you know I can't resist pesto.  So I whipped this up...

I love when you can just throw ingredients in the food processor and it does its magic.  Interested in making this for yourself...super easy...here goes. 

1 C chopped Garlic Scape

4-5 fresh Basil leaves

1/3 C Walnuts

3/4 C Olive Oil

1/2 C Parmesan Cheese

Salt And Pepper to taste

Pulse scapes and walnuts together, add oil gradually in a pour, then pulse in the rest of the ingredients.

The pesto played so well with some grilled shrimp and thin spaghetti.

#2, #3, and #4- Sugar Snap Peas, Broccoli, and Asparagus- Steam...Spray Butter...Garlic Salt...Eat.

#5- Homegrown Strawberries- these were pretty much devoured by the little guy.  He loves his fruit and I can't complain about that.  A few strawberries found their way into a few glasses of champagne too.   Keep on reading though, you'll find out what other awesome thing I made with these berries!

#6- Romaine Lettuce- this made a great Caesar Salad to compliment our crab legs and I used it on Saturday for a salad...more on that in a bit.  I get more than enough lettuce each week to feed a small army.  Maybe this is the farmer's way of telling me I need to eat more salads????

So that's that for the CSA.  It's been pretty much the same things for the first few weeks and I can't wait till mid-summer when more fruits are in season!

Thursday, L and I hosted a play date for all of his little friends and their moms.  I ended up making three goodies.  The first was this awesome Chocolate Chip Banana Bread that I found on the back of this that was hiding in my pantry

Real easy to make, even though I did mess up the recipe and add 1/2 cup too much water.  Lesson Learned #2- always read the recipe to the end (although I'm sure this won't be the last time I do this!)

No harm, no foul...the bread turned out just fine

And it was super moist and delicious.  L loved it.  Seriously though, what kid doesn't love chocolate?!?!

I also made an Ambrosia Salad and Cinnamon Bites (which I totally baked wrong- goes back to not reading the recipe correctly- hey it's tough to concentrate when you have an almost 3 foot toddler pulling at you). 

Friday morning I finally got around to making those Bacon and Egg Uncrustables from last month since I finally got my sandwich sealer.  Here's the filling...

And here's the finished product...

Saturday, some of my favorite gal pals came over for lunch and to do a little skin care and makeup product sampling.  For lunch, we enjoyed...

Strawberry Mango Basil Salsa

Quick and Easy Salsa (both served with pita chips)

I also made a Layered Summer Salad (minus the mushrooms and onions, and I used Ranch dressing instead) and a Lemonade Cake, for dessert of course!!  Champagne with strawberries and Raspberry Lemonade rounded out the menu.

And finally we're at Sunday, I'm almost out of dish soap, and I think I've washed every dish and gadget at least twice this week.  When I woke up I realized that I had planned for L to eat some of my new meals for the month...so off I went at 8am, browning ground beef, and cooking up a storm.

Little Monkey Bites

Skinny Pizza Pinwheels

Chicken Bites

Noodle Pancakes

Beefy Hashbrown Pizza

My little critic seems to be pretty excited about his first glimpse of it!!

And finally, as an afternoon snack, I whipped up these smoothies for G and I (1 cup mango, 1/2 cup peach, 1/2 cup milk, 2 T. sugar, and a pinch of nutmeg).  Bliss.

Until next week :-)