Simple Dinners

Family Evening Soirée…

Today was the first time we had a family dinner, with everyone present, eating at the same time and in the same place for a long long time…..

Family time is so precious and hard to come by in this busy hectic world, that its a nice feeling when we all manage to get together. So with that said and although I ‘m still not feeling myself after my surgery, I still found some strength to put together a tasty meal and a little sweet treat which we enjoyed whilst chatting , having a drink and catching up!

thumb_DSC05022_1024

I started by preparing the little sweet treat which was inspired by 2 lovely huge pomegranates that were sitting on the counter without a purpose. I cut them open, took the lovely juicy seeds out and put them to the side.

thumb_DSC05017_1024

Then I melted some milk chocolate (preferred over dark chocolate in our home) and then put to good use my handy dandy Pampered Chef herb gadget, which obviously was not used to store/freeze herbs 🙂

I filled 1/3 of each cavity with the melted milk chocolate, then spooned in some pomegranate seeds and then topped it off with more melted chocolate and into the fridge they went.

I still had some chocolate and pomegranate seeds left, so I mixed them up and plop them on some wax paper into clusters and they also went straight into the fridge.

Then I pulled out some lovely skirt steak, seasoned it well and let it rest a bit before it went onto the grill.

thumb_DSC05033_1024

I did mention that I am still recovering from surgery, which is my excuse of using a few ready prepared sides to stop me from standing too long in the kitchen.

I had been to Trader Joe’s and found some frozen Asparagus Risotto which turned out to be pretty good but next time I need to doctor it with a little extra salt, some black pepper and maybe a dash of cayenne pepper and fresh parmesan cheese to give it a little umpf if you know what I mean.

thumb_DSC05027_1024

I also bought at Trader Joe’s a Greek Spinach Spanakopita tart which again wasn’t too bad but I have to say that I prefer my home made Pascualina which is a Uruguayan version of the Greek Spinach Pie. No feta cheese is used in the Uruguayan one but its so much tastier, or so I think of course…..

Evening was greatly relaxing, ate, drank, chatted and caught up with Mama Gaye whilst also enjoying the company of by busy teenage kids and hubby, oh and let me not forget the cats that of course made sure we knew they were there ❤

thumb_DSC05036_1024

After dinner we got to enjoy the lovely sweet treats that ended up being a big hit so they for sure will be part of future menus…..

 

Note to self – Jalapeño Salsa is really hot!

So not much of a proper culinary posting tonight as there wasn’t much of the homemade stuff, but as usual behind every meal there is some kind of funny story!

Today became Kick your butt Taco Wednesday by mistake 🙂

With that said, I got all my ingredients out, sorry impromptu dinner, all out of jars:

10641030_10152419132082397_2417317936681877797_n

I decided I would behave and make the 1 perfect soft taco and piled the following ingredients on it:

  • Arugula, Seasoned meat, Salsa, a lot, I repeat, a lot of jalapeño salsa, Banana peppers, sour cream and guacamole!

IMG_1050

After I piled it all on, I decided to taste the Jalapeño salsa on its own and OMG, deep down under I wished I hadn’t piled it on so much but too late now, time to face the music, or should I say the heat?

Have to say it was very tasty and delicious but I for sure felt like the featured cartoon!

Moral of this posting, always taste before you add something! lol

Cooking on the run……..helps to be prepared!

Once again I got back home later than usual to a ravenously hungry teenage child!

One thing that always saves me big time is having semi prepared meals in hand so that I can have a full dinner at the table within 30 minutes of walking into the house. Big thanks to my mum and dad for bringing me up with those habits!

Tonights simple dinner consisted of:

  • Oven baked breaded Chicken
  • Garlic, Parmesan Oregano Biscuits
  • Annatto & Cilantro Rice

IMG_0705

A friend who doesn’t particularly like cooking said that there is no way that the above is a simple quick dinner and I managed to prove her wrong by:

  • Having the chicken cutlets ready breaded in the fridge (had prepared them a few weeks ago and kept them in the freezer and just took them out this morning). Placed them in a 350 deg oven for 20 minutes together with…..
  • I had a can of Pillsbury Biscuits in the fridge which I placed on a baking sheet, sprinkled some garlic powder, oregano and parmesan cheese on them and placed them in the oven at the same time as the chicken for 20 minutes.
  • Put the rice on (drizzle of coconut oil, 2 cups of rice, 3 cups of water, salt and seasoning) as soon as I walked in through the door. (the seasoning consisted of  a package of Badia Sazon Tropical.

Like magic, all 3 items were ready at the same time and exactly 30 minutes after I walked in, dinner was on the table!

I love putting attention to detail on how I plate dinner and my kids get a kick out of it and know not to touch the plate till “Mama takes her picture”!

Dinner has been served……:-)

PS: Someone who’s name I won’t mention is also getting a packed lunch out of this!

IMG_0708

Halloumi Cheese from Cyprus

Recently I have been having a craving for some delicious Halloumi Cheese. Such cheese is not easy to come by here in South Florida but when I do find it I stock up big time!

IMG_0451

Tonight we had some Panfried Halloumi cheese lightly breaded in some seasoned flour served on a bed of lettuce tossed with some artichokes, garlic stuffed olives and chopped tomatoes, with a homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette.

IMG_0452

This lovely light and tasty salad was of course paired with a lovely glass of Moscato which I believe is named after my sister! lol

Bon appetit!

IMG_0445

Sometimes simple dishes are the best…..

After a long day at work, followed by being eaten alive by mosquitoes whilst doing yard work, I found myself in the kitchen at 8pm, tired and hungry with nothing appetizing in sight.

After ummming and ahhhing at the fridge for a while, I found a lovely Ziploc bag with some slices of Courgettes (Zucchini) and Yellow Squash leftover from making my Ratatouille last weekend!

So out they came, followed by some lovely fresh garlic and a very aromatic bunch of Oregano.

IMG_0087

Quickly sautéed the Courgettes, Yellow Squash and Garlic, added some salt and pepper, tossed in a bunch of oregano and then topped off with some low fat shredded mozzarella and sprinkled some red pepper flakes.

Not sure if it was because I was so tired, drained from work, or maybe drained by the mosquitoes, but the simplicity and flavor in this simple dish with barely any ingredients was amazing. Tasty, light, simple, delicious……… need I go on!

So that is it for today!

Till my next posting 🙂