TV Segment

In case you are wondering, yes, I will be on PA Live this Thursday, September 29th from 4pm to 5pm. It is WBRE in the Wilkes-Barre Scranton market. Tune in, if you can. If you can't, here are the recipes I will be making:


Black Bean Salsa
This recipe travels well and is best made the night before.


½ cup red onion, diced
½ cup red pepper, diced
½ cup green pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14 oz.) diced tomatoes with jalapenos, drained
½ large tomato, diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon Adobo with pepper
½ cup frozen corn
Tortilla chips

Combine all ingredients and chill, preferably overnight. Serve with tortilla chips.

Makes about 4 cups.

Variations: Combine salsa with rice and serve as a side dish or as an enchilada. The salsa also makes a great topping for a salad.


 

Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash and Maple Walnuts

Roasted Squash
1 small butternut squash (1 to 2 pounds)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar (preferable dark brown sugar)

Cut butternut squash into half circles about ¼ inch thick. Place squash on a roasting pan lined with parchment paper. Drizzle squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven.

Whisk the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Once the squash has roasted about 10 minutes, brush the vinegar mixture onto the squash making sure to glaze both sides. Continue to roast squash until done; a fork will pierce the squash easily. Cool. This step can be done ahead of serving.

Maple Walnuts
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
6 tablespoons maple syrup
Toast the walnuts in a skillet over medium-low heat. Once they are warm (watch them carefully) and starting to toast, stir in the maple syrup. Cook until coated with syrup. Set aside to cool.

Salad Assembly
10 ounces of salad greens
Bleu cheese
Dried cranberries
Roasted butternut squash
Maple walnuts
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

Place the salad greens on a serving plate. Top with roasted squash, bleu cheese, dried cranberries, and maple walnuts. Dress the salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar or dressing of choice.

Sunday Morning

This week is going to be busier than usual...I say that a lot. I am a little anxious about this week. I am the MC for a fashion show today; a fundraiser for ovarian cancer. I have to work late 3 days and I have (hopefully) a local TV appearance on Thursday. My husband has to leave early on day and work late one night. The kids will have practice as usual, a game, and an audition. I must also get my hair cut for my TV appearance!

I spent the morning getting ready. For tonight, I prepared Slow Cooked Chicken Cacciatore. I made my own sauce and put that into the crock pot. Then, I made Sausage and Lentil Stew, that will be a reserve for the week and I plan to make Butternut Squash Soup later tonight. For a treat (and some for the freezer) I made Sweet Potato Cupcakes.

With the addition of some pasta and burgers, we should make it through the week with homecooked meals.

Three hours in the car

Literally, three hours driving the kids to practices and home and running errands. I was not sure what I was going to prepare for dinner. I was thinking that I would make breakfast foods for dinner... fast, easy to clean up, liked by all. I was too exhausted. We ate sandwiches.

After football

Monday=freshman football game. I took out the Veg Head Three Bean Chili that I had in the freezer. All I had to do was heat it up and dinner was ready.


Tuesday, I adjusted the Bourbon Barbecued Pork Chops so my husband would be able to get them on the table. Instead of grilling, I browned the pork chops in a saute pan. I mixed the sauce on the stove also. That prep was complete and I put the chops into a pan, topped with the sauce, and my husband put them into the oven until they were cooked through. When I got home, there were no pork chops left. Must have been good.

Cookie and Bob's Birthdays

Cookie and Bob are the perpetual hosts of Sunny Sunday. They open their house and pool to us all summer long. It was only natural that we repay the hospitality. I made dinner:

A salad (a staple of any meal)

Asian barbecue chicken

Baked beans with swiss chard

Acorn squash

Root beer bundt cake

Truly great recipes!

Six at the table!

It's a Saturday and we all were able to sit at the table at the same time! Exciting. I made a salad (nothing too special), country style ribs with apple-bourbon barbecue sauce, garlis and cheese smashed potatoes, and broccoli. It was a delicious meal.

Garlic and Cheese Smashed Potatoes



2 ½ pounds of potatoes, white or red, quartered
6 cloves roasted garlic
¼ cup butter
¼ cup half and half
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
4 ounces Mascarpone cheese

Cook potatoes in boiling water until tender. Drain. Using a potato masher, begin to mash potatoes adding the remaining ingredients. Serve.

NOTE: If you don't have any roasted garlic, saute garlis in butter before mixing with potatoes.

A meal together...sort of

My husband's allergies were really bothering him (usually turns into a sinus infection) so he stayed home from work. Even though the kids still had activities, we mostly sat at the dinner table at the same time.

I made grilled shrimp with sweet chile sauce and served it with rice as suggested. It is delicious! I will make it again. I served salad and sauteed some zucchini for a side dish. Also, hamburgers and hot dogs were an option, for the non-shrimp eaters.

Still food in frig

I still have some white chicken chili and sloppy joes in the frig. That will be dinner for tonight. You may wonder why these foods are still there...my kids are big pb&j fans and they will eat that instead of a hot meal if I am not home. Hmmm.....

Girl's Weekend

It's not an entire weekend, but one night away with the girl's for a bachelorette party means leaving the family prepared to eat.

Last night, I made brownies (from a box so don't get excited). They are gone now. And we all had snack kind of food for dinner- chicken skewers, chicken nachos, egg rolls, and pizza.

For Saturday, I made Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes, but I did not use the slow cooker. I just simmered them on the stove. The kids and husband will have at least one homemade meal on Saturday. I am sure he will cave in and go for fast food, even though there is more to eat in the frig. I also prepped some chicken so that I can make chicken chili on Sunday when I get back.

1st Day of School

My first born entered high school today as my last born entered first grade. The other two entered 7th and 5th grade. I'm not sure meatloaf is a memorable first day of school meal, but that's what we had. The advance prep made things easy.

Back to School

Back to school also means I am back to work. Which also means I have to be better planned for our meals. Today, we have a showing at our house at 4pm, the kids have practice at 5:30, and I have an evening class that begins at 5:30. Eating before practice means a good, healthy snack and my husband "making" dinner after practice for the kids. He is "making" leftovers from our Labor Day Celebration. Luckily for us, his Aunt sent us home with some great food.

I have a meatloaf defrosting in the refrigerator for tomorrow's dinner. As all of you moms know, we have to be flexible!

Weekend

I had a great plan with the chicken for Friday ready on Thursday, except that I own football players and most of the chicken was a snack on Thursday. It all worked out anyway. We made plans with friends for Friday evening and I was in charge of bringing hoagies. The remaining chicken with potatoes and some pizza were ready for after football games on Saturday.

Our Labor Day celebration will be today; (not very) sunny Sunday. We are usually over the top with our Sunday food but today we decided to go "old school". Hamburgers, hot dogs, chili sauce, corn on the cob, potato salad...you get the picture. Our dessert is red velvet cupcakes. I made them last week. I used the recipe from Sylvia's Soul Food Cookbook. I think it is the best, but the recipe in the book from Amy's breads is a close second.

Since I was in the kitchen cooking, I also made Veg Head Three Bean Chili. It is truly one of my favorite recipes. It is easy, I usually have the ingredients on hand, and it freezes well. I put the chili in the freezer for a night when things get crazy. School starts this week and everyday has the potential to become hectic.

I also prepped a meatloaf for Tuesday night's meal. Since I mixed it on Saturday, I put it into the freezer. I will put it into the refrigerator later today so that it will be thawed before I cook it.

The best laid plans...

The tacos for the kids did not happen last night. My husband and the kids had to fend for themselves- luckily, there was a lot to choose from.

That left me with ground beef and chicken thighs and drums in the refrigerator. This morning I made the taco meat--for later. I also marinated the chicken with rosemary, roasted garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. That will be for tomorrow. It all worked out.