Grilled swordfish with pineapple salsa

Confession: I made this recipe so long ago that I honestly had to stare at the food pics for 5 minutes so I could remember what I put in it. I finally have a few moments to myself to post this recipe because  I happen to find myself at home...alone. My children are having a sleepover with grandparents and Brett is on a work trip. Luckily I have these two skinny minis to keep me company ;)

Our summer has been CRAZY...but we have been enjoying every second. I do have to say that I'm not sure I can look at another hot dog or burger. One of our favorite easy dinners in the summer is grilled fish with fruit salsa. To be honest, we normally buy store-bought mango salsa, but the last time we were going to make it, the store was out. I'm not sure if you've ever bought/cut mangoes, but they are a pain in the fanny. The nice thing about fruit salsa, is that you could use any kind of fruit you like. I happened to have bought a pineapple that day, so that's what we went with...but if you were feeling patient, go with the mango (or strawberries, or kiwis or a combo of any of that business)

The recipe

1 pineapple, diced into small pieces

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

3 scallions, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

Few tblsp olive oil

Dash of crushed red pepper

Zest and Juice of 1 lime

Salt and pepper

3/4 lb swordfish

Preheat grill. Drizzle both sides of fish with olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Grill 5 minutes per side of fish, spending on thickness. Let stand for 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix pineapple, cilantro, scallion, garlic, olive oil, crushed red pepper, lime zest and juice, olive oil , salt and pepper. 

Serve over grilled fish. I served with grilled asparagus.

Ladies cocktail night!

Every so often, my Williamson gals like to gather for a ladies night sleepover. These nights usually entail lots of great food, wine and laughs...it's a ton of fun and a great chance for sisters, aunts, cousins, nieces, mom's, etc. to get together. Occasionally there's some wii dance games and charades...I know, CRAZY business.

So last weekend we had a girls night, and as per usual, I was tasked with bringing an appetizer. For most family parties, I usually bring an appetizer. You know how that goes....you get bored bringing the same thing to every occasion. Also per usual, I was running late... Deli and I had run a million errands that day and by the time we got home from grocery shopping, I had an hour to put away a car full of groceries and Home Goods finds as well as make an appetizer. Knowing I wouldn't have a lot of time, I had bought a few packages of naan bread and was able to throw together a quick pizza/bruschetta that was yummy, fresh and fast. I even had enough time to make sangria...hello ladies night!

Note: I was seriously running late so my pics are sucky...sorry!

Naan bruschetta

3 pkg whole wheat naan bread (2 rounds per package)

2 cups cherry tomatoes (I'm obsessed with the packages of mixed mini tomatoes, so I used that)

1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400. Spread the naan breads on 2 cookie sheets. Mix the tomatoes, basil, oregano, garlic, olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper in a med bowl. 

Divide the mixture amongst the naan breads and spread out. 

Top with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese on each. 

Bake for 10 minutes. Slice into wedges and enjoy!

Sangria

2 bottles red wine (Syrah or Rioja)

2 quart container of lemonade (I like newmans own)

3/4 cup brandy

1 lime, sliced

1 lemon, sliced

1 orange, sliced

1 apple, sliced

Seltzer

Mix wine, lemonade and brandy in a large pitcher/container. Toss in all of the sliced fruit (pitted cherries, peaches, plums would also be really good). Let sit for at least and hour. Pour over ice in a glass 3/4 full and top with seltzer.

Summa-time Slaw

Holy hot weekend! After the last few days, it definitely feels like summer is here! I feel like everyone has their favorite go-to summer sides...you know, the ones you bring to every picnic. One of my favorites has always been this grilled corn, tomato and green bean salad that I got out of Bon Appetite forever ago. It's super fresh and delish and is perfect for a hot day, because it's not mayonaisy and tastes great cold or room temperature. The problem is that it takes FOREVER to make. Ok, we'll maybe not forever, but you have to shuck and grill the corn, blanch the green beans, etc...you get the point.

I knew we were having company this weekend and actually thought about making my standard corn salad. Then I remembered that since I was back to being a working gal, I had to grocery shop on a (brace yourself here) Saturday. And since my new job is located downtown, I no longer have the ability to do my weekly Target run during the week either. That's right folks, Target AND Stop and Shop in the same day. It didn't take long to throw the corn salad idea out the window. After having those 10 weeks off, I'm definitely trying to enjoy weekends as much as possible, so I decided a simple side was the way to go. Plus, if I was stuck in the kitchen, I would have totally missed this action...

I tweaked/embellished a simple slaw I had thrown together for fish tacos a few times last summer...and this recipient was born. I think the sweet/spicy/crispy combination is the perfect accompaniment to any BBQ and would be also great served with grill chicken or fish on top.

Spicy Mango Slaw

2 bags of coleslaw mix ( I used the broccoli cole slaw mix...I like the texture and it's the only way. I can get Brett to eat broccoli)

1 cup prepared mango salsa (look for the fresh ones in the produce section)

1/2 bunch of scallions, chopped

1 jalapeño, seeded and diced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

The zest and juice of 2 limes

1/2 cup orange juice

1/3 (ish) cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

Combine all of the ingredients, mixing well. Let sit for at least an hour so all the favors can meld...will taste even better the next day!

Friday night=pizza night

Somehow, my "lady of leisure" time is coming to an end. I start my new job right after the holiday weekend and while I'm definitely excited for the new challenge, I'm also sad to see my time off coming to an end. As I've mentioned before, Adela has been home with me since we moved. I can definitely tell she's ready to get back into a routine and be around lots of children her own age. At the same time though, every time I bring it up, she makes a sad face and tells me to stop talking about it.

Yesterday, I was trying to think about what I felt like I had accomplished in the last 2.5 months. Obviously, we've moved twice, so there has been a significant amount of packing,  unpacking, re-packing, unpacking, etc. I've also made more trips to the DMV than I care to admit. My favorite thing though has been having to little bit of "extra time" to do all of the normal stuff. I've certainly taken advantage of the time off to take my kids to parks and museums and movies, etc. which has been really great. But my favorite things? Taking Adela to get a chocolate frosted donut and then strolling through Target to look at shower curtains or picking Bodie up from school and watching him ride his bike at 4pm on a Tuesday. It's been so nice to not be in a constant rush... And I'm hoping I can remember that as we get back into our routine.

Another thing I wanted to try with my extra time was making my own pizza crust. I've never done it before and it seemed like the perfect way to spend a rainy Friday afternoon. I turned to my trusted Betty Crocker cookbook and substituted half the the flour with white whole wheat flour, but otherwise followed the recipe. The crust was just ok...not bad, but I feel like I could do better...so I'll keep working on that. (Actually, who am i kidding...I'm going back to work, so i'll probably be ordering pizza ;) )The recipe that I did want to post though was for the toppings. One of the most important things to do when you move is find a great pizza place. Brett and I had a really great white pizza with chicken and hot peppers (which has never occurred to me to put on a pizza before) when we first moved and it was SO good! 

The recipe 

1 pizza crust

3/4 cup of ricotta cheese

2 cloves of garlic

1 long hot pepper, seeds removed and cut into thin strips(that's what it was called at the grocery store... I'm not sure what the technical name is)

2 links of chicken sausage, cut into small chunks (I bought the jalapeño flavored one)

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450 (or whatever your pizza crust directions are). Roll out crust on a greased baking sheet. (tip.... When we buy the refrigerated ones in the bags at the grocery store, we put them in the microwave for 45 seconds and it's way easier to roll it out.) 

In a small bowl mix the ricotta cheese, garlic and salt and pepper. Spread in a thin layer on the crust. 

Top with the pepper and sausage slices. Top with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until it's browned.

Parmesan chicken bruschetta

Since our move I've been enjoying some work "transition" time...meaning I've been unemployed and enjoying every second :). And since I've not been working, Deli has not been attending any sort of school/daycare. One of our favorite things to do during our "spend all of Daddy's money" time has been to make salads and watch shows together during lunch. While we were at the rental, we didn't bother getting cable since it was such a short time period, so there was a lot of Tinkerbelle and Barbie movies. Now that we are in our new house and have been visited by the Cox Cable man, we've had a little more variety. Surprisingly, one of her fav new shows is the Pioneer Woman on the Food Network which is one of mine too. (Well, one of my fav shows that is appropriate for children...I haven't pushed the Real Housewives on her yet ;) ) 

Seeing as we got cable all of a week ago, I only have 2 episodes of PW on my DVR. We've watched one particular episode like 100 times and Adela still keeps asking for it! In this episode, Ree is home alone for the weekend and cooks all sorts of "lady-foods" while her husband and kids are away. The other thing that happens in this episode is that she feeds her dogs, cats and horses and also gives her dogs a bath...which I suspect is the draw on this episode, but I'll take it.

One of the things that she makes is bruschetta...which looks SO delicious (although it could be the butter soaked bread). I've literally seen this episode so many times it's not surprising that I'd pull something for it for dinner. I had a package of those individually wrapped chicken breasts in the freezer which I LOVE (you can literally put one in a bowl of hot water and it defrosts in 10 minutes) and a big package of "gourmet tomatoes" which I've been using wherever possible. 

If it hadn't been for my "anti-chicken" son, I would have just grilled the chicken, but I knew a breaded variety would increase my chances of him eating it, so I loaded it up with Parmesan cheese and this recipe was born! For the record...he ate it dipped in ranch minus the tomatoes.

The recipe

1 1/2 lb chicken breasts

1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

2 tblsp olive oil

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

3 scallions chopped

2 tblsp balsamic vinegar

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

Mix the breadcrumbs with the parmesan cheese in a shallow bowl wait lack pepper (the ones I usually buy are pretty salty, so I never add salt.)

 in another shallow bowl, whisk the eggs and olive oil with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken breasts in the egg mixture and then the breading. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes for smaller chicken breasts...if you have larger ones, bake for 25 minutes (insert inappropriate comment about large vs. small chicken breasts here.)

While the chicken is baking, preheat a small skillet over med. heat. Add garlic cloves and sauté for 2 minutes. And your halved grape tomatoes (or whatever smaller tomatoes you have). Sauté for another minute, then stir in the balsamic vinegar and add the chopped scallions.

Spoon the mixture over chicken and garnish with additional Parmesan and chopped fresh parsley (neither of which I had). Enjoy!

Cooks note: if at any point you need to stop what you are doing a pour yourself a glass of wine because your kids (who have a million dollars worth of toys) are fighting over a bubble gum machine bouncy ball, feel free. If you then have to pour another glass because your 4-year-daughter tells you to speak "properly" during dinner like the mom from Sofia the First, I won't judge ;)

A tale of boxes and burned burners

Hello!!

To say the last year has been nutso would be an understatement. Here's a recap: we had been planning a relocation. Our house was on the market for well over a year, which entailed frequent showings. If you've ever tried to sell your house with small children, I'm sure you can empathize. Suffice it to say more than a few bottles of wine were consumed in my house. In January 2013, we got an offer on our house which meant we had to address an inspection, appraisal, etc. and prepare to move to a new town...thus leaving my job, my son's school district, my daughter's daycare and all of our local friends. Also, we had to pack up our home, find a place to live and basically find a new everything...all the while, it seemed as though my husband was away on a work trip every day. As you can imagine, writing my blog fell to the bottom of my to-do list.

Unfortunately, we were unable to find "the" house before we moved, so we secured a rental house. I'll spare the details on the rental, but let's just say it was an "antique". Let your imagination roam...

Fortunately, 2 days after we moved we found "the" house (in the middle of a a snowstorm). A septic system, new mortgage and a month later we moved in!! Fast forward to today (a week after we closed) and things are starting to progress. We are not settled by any stretch...I think the packed boxes still outnumber the unpacked ones. I'm still in the process of looking for a new job and a new preschools/daycare for Adela. But, we are in the new house, I finally have cable, Internet and phone (after going 7 weeks without), and my kitchen is completely unpacked (and is oh-so-pretty).

Tonight, I decided to break in the kitchen and try a recipe for Cajun shrimp tacos from Cooking Light. Now, I'm not a "follow a recipe to a t" kind of gal, but I use a recipe more as a guideline.

What I did follow on the directions was to "char" the corn tortillas on the burner. I have a feeling this direction was meant for the lucky individuals who have a gas burner...since it left a bit of a mess on my electric burner. That combined with my dogs "accident" on the carpet in our TV room means we have already broken our house or truly moved in.


Ugh...either way we're starting to settle. I hope to be back to a regular schedule on my blog and to share recipes. I can say that I've definitely missed sharing my recipes and bits of life with you (and by "you" I mean the two of you who are reading this...probably my husband and mom ;) )

Until then, I'll be buried in boxes!!

Fake milkshake: berry smoothie

Fake Milkshake: berry smoothie

Yesterday, I took the day off to take Bodie to get a cavity filled. Yes, that’s right, my five-year-old son had a cavity. Bring on the “horrible mother” complexes. While I don’t claim to be an at-home dental hygenist, I think I’m decent when it comes to our teeth cleaning rituals. Brett or I brush our kids teeth every single night and if I’m being generous, their teeth get flossed about 50% of the time. We let them brush their own teeth in the morning and “attempt” to limit fruit snacks, etc. Again, probably not the poster child for kids dental hygiene, but I definitely didn’t expect the cavity prognosis at his recent visit.

In talking with the dentist, she asked again about whether or not we have floride in our water, because with good dental habits, a lack of floride in the water could be just the thing to give him the cavity. For the past few years, I’ve been taking the “of course, I’m sure we have floride” line when asked this question (good lord – it’s not like we live in a swamp or soemthing). Post cavity, I finally called the town and come to find out – we don’t have floride in our water.

Part of me is back on the horrible mother train…why did I not check into the floride earlier. The other part? Secretly (well not so secretly anymore) relieved that it wasn’t something I did that gave him the cavity (that is, of course, if you don’t think about the fact that I never got him the floride).

Flash back to yesterday. Bodie did awesome at the dentist. He went in by himself (which nearly broke me in two…seriously, will a day come in my children’s lives when I don’t cry at EVERYTHING??). He came out with a fixed tooth and a numb mouth, but in one piece. His treat? He earned himself a McDonald’s milkshake (In my defense, the hygenist said no solid food and something cold…what was I supposed to do?) Obviously I had to get Adela a milkshake too, so one strawberry and one chocolate milkshake later we were on our way home. Adela was done after only a few sips, and that evil thing stared at me all the way home. Good lord milkshakes are yummy…and I managed to put down half of it down before we got home. (ooops)

We don’t make milkshakes a habit at our house, but we do like our smoothies (or smoobies as my kids call them). Until yesterday, I would say that this fruit smoothie tastes a lot like a berry chocolate milkshake. After tasting the real thing yesterday, I’ll renig that comment, but it’s a pretty good smoothie and makes a super healthy and easy breakfast!

The recipe

2 cups frozen mixed berries

1 frozen banana, peeled and cut into chunks

¾ cup vanilla yogurt

½ cup peanut butter

2 scoops of chocolate whey protein powder (photo below if you're not familiar)

Milk

Add the berries, banana, yogurt, peanut butter and whey protein powder to a blender.

Add enough milk to come just below the top of the ingredients. Blend on full power, and add more milk if it’s getting stuck.

This made enough for everyone in my house for breakfast and enough for me to bring a little afternoon snack!