Category — Recipes

If you’ve made the Roasted Ratatouille Roulade on yesterday’s post, then you already have the ratatouille needed to make this lasagna. If not, CLICK HERE for the ratatouille recipe.  Enjoy!

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This would be another wonderful Meatless Monday meal, just leave out the chicken.  I added it because my dad was coming for dinner and it isn’t dinner if meat is not included for him… he is old school to the max! The chicken does benefit and stays lovely moist and juicy roasting under the vegetables this way. We’ll be using half of the ratatouille for these roulades and save the remaining half for tomorrow’s ratatouille lasagna.

I couldn’t find any really good-looking tomatoes in the grocery store, so I substituted canned diced tomatoes, always the way to go when there are no good tomatoes around.

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I’m going to try to post a “Meatless Monday” meal every week.  I honestly don’t know how long I’ll keep it up, but I’m going to give it my best shot.  The problem with posting on Monday is that if the recipe sounds like something you really would like to try for dinner that night, it doesn’t give you much time to get to the store and get the ingredients. So I plan to post “MM” recipes over the weekend.

Besides the Boca burgers I use to buy for Marissa during her vegetarian days, I’ve never purchased or cooked with meat replacements before, but the more I hear about them, the more I’ve been wanting to give them a chance.  Vegan activist and author, Kathy Freston, has been a frequent guest on both Oprah and Ellen and she swears by the Gardein and Morningstar Farms brands, so that is what I am going to start with.

I purchased a half-dozen different packages and decided to play it safe for this first go-round and make chili since if we didn’t care for the “fake” meat taste, the bold and spicy flavors of chili would easily cover it up!

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I’m gearing up for a demonstration cooking class in the garden next weekend.  In that garden spirit, I made myself a delicious breakfast gazpacho drink this morning, what a way to get the day started!

I hope you’ll come out to see me at Berridge Nurseries (4647 E. Camelback in Phoenix) next Saturday, April 16th, at noon.

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My friend and neighbor, Jeanie, recently asked for a good recipe for Panang Curry, which I happily provided her. The only problem was that then I was craving Thai food. I didn’t have all the ingredients needed for the Panang on hand, but I did have what was needed for these easy chicken satay – problem solved! [Read more →]

Whenever I’m in Costco, I check to see what fresh fish is available and if I see ahi tuna, I can’t pass it up. Seared ahi is light and refreshing, and so is this salad. It was too hot to use the grill the other day when I made it, so I used the grill pan instead, but if the weather permits, use your grill outside and eat al fresco!

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It’s no secret – I love potatoes. This is a light, flavor-packed, and healthy potato side that is easy enough for a weeknight and fancy enough for company.

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On Friday, I was buzzing around and feeling very accomplished and happy with myself, getting all sorts of errands and housecleaning done.  And suddenly it hit me – I’m so stinking hot! Even though I had my A/C on (ugh!) and it was set to 75 degrees, which is ridiculous, I know! It was 96 degrees outside and that’s what it felt like inside the house to me.  What to do? I’d been drinking water all day, in fact, I was counting and I’d already drank five 16-ounces glasses.  I needed something more.  I don’t drink soda or coffee (iced or otherwise) and I was already up to my eyeballs in iced tea, which I drank like a horse the day before, as the temps were rising. Finally, it dawned on me, that I’d make myself an agua fresca.  Agua frescas are popular fruit beverages in Central America and the Caribbean. Depending on the natural sweetness of the fruit, sugar or simple syrup may be added as a sweetener.  I wasn’t looking for anything sweet, just something more refreshing and satisfying than water. Trust me, this hit the spot, I plan on making agua frescas with ripe summer fruits all summer long.

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My friend and neighbor, Ronnie, is a CAbi (Carol Anderson by invitation) Consultant. CAbi is a line of beautiful woman’s clothing that is sold at private parties in people’s homes. Recently one of Ronnie’s hostesses served these decadent toffee cookie bars that are seriously candy rich! The recipe is from a recent Pillsbury Bake-Off.  I believe the original Bake-Off recipe used white chocolate chips, but the hostess substituted peanut butter chips, which I think is a great idea. Also, the original recipe makes 24 bars, these are far too rich for that, so I cut them into 45 bars… much more manageable for the tummy!  Thanks, Ronnie for passing on this recipe to me. I hope you enjoy that I’m passing it on to you! [Read more →]

When my kids were young, I loved to trick them with food on April Fool’s Day. The year Marissa was in fourth grade and Connor was in first grade was a stellar year! 

I started the day off with a non-food trick on my husband, Dave.  The day before, I took a new bar of soap and coated it on all sides with clear nail polish.  After it was dry, I replaced the soap in our shower with this new bar. I stood outside the bathroom and listened to him cursing as he continually dropped the bar of soap, trying to get a lather going.  He was so frustrated, that I actually began to feel sorry for him, and went in to replace the bar for him.

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