chili-glazed tofu over snap peas & rice

i love tofu, i just have never cooked with it, until now. the chili-glazed tofu over rice was dinner last night & we both enjoyed this a lot! it was so easy & done in 10 minutes, due to the 4 minute brown rice that steams in the bag in the microwave...not so sure what brand i bought on a whim. the other brown rice i bought, takes over an hour to cook...sheesh.

i did substitute snap peas for the asparagus, sesame oil for the peanut oil & squeezed some lime on the finished plate.

i would highly recommend this recipe if you are in the mood for something quick.

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spinach matzo torta

for lunches this week, i made a matzo torta & it was delish!!
this recipe will be a great passover lunch/dinner for next year.

i did substitute spinach for swiss chard because the grocery store was out of swiss chard. i used 2 bags of organic baby spinach.


this was a recipe that i got out of the hannaford fresh magazine -pg 8-9 - thanks mom, keep them coming!

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easter meal

the easter meal was delegated to me and i really enjoyed trying to figure out a meal for a day of being with family & cleaning up nana's woods w/ the bonfire.

i decided to go the honeybaked ham route, since we have not had one in years. roche bros. had a honeybaked ham kiosk, so it was VERY convenient to run down to roche and pick up a 10 lb half ham....i had the choice between an 8 & 10 lber & i went big...the family will be eatting ham all week....

now, for the sides -
carrot souffle (our nod to passover) - this is a family recipe...carrots, matzo meal, butter, sugar...yummy goodness.
mustard dressed asparagus - delish side dish, lots of flavor
golden onion strata with gruyère and prosciutto - this was well received. even sweetie tried a bite.
roasted fingerling potatoes w/ horseradish sour cream- sans the red pepper flakes. i really do prefer these little guys, b/c they crisp up on the outside & are light and fluffy in the inside. they are great on the grill too!!
parmesan crescent rolls

my sister-in-law brought the appetizers. between picking up sticks & burning them, we noshed on a hot spinach dip & a 7 layer mexican dip that she put some of her own twists on. we really enjoyed her take on the mexican dip & requested the recipe!!

also, i introduced the peep lovers in the family to a campfire favorite from T....smores made w/ roasted peeps!! it is like a creme brullee marshmallow inside the smores fixings. you must be warned - watch out for the molten sugar, it can burn you bad...real bad! when roasted just right, the outside becomes crunchy sugar & the inside is gooey marshmallow yumminess. or enjoy them my #1 favorite way...hard as a rock.

my mama was in charge of the desserts: strawberry shortcake (strawberries they picked in the fields last summer), lemon meringue pie & key lime pie...nice & springy!!

overall, i believe the meal was a success! i received many compliments & folks enjoyed the new flavors.

i hope you had a lovely holiday weekend.

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3 cheese pasta bake

i was a bit skeptical of this recipe, but i wanted to give sweetie a new pasta dish for lunches & thought this was interesting....a few ingredients i have never put together within my pasta bakes.

3 cheese pasta bake

i actually needed to use up a few bits of pasta that i had, some elbows, some ziti..so this was a mixture of pastas that cook at the same rate. i used all low fat/skim options for the cheeses & didn't use the entire amount called for w/ the cheeses...it just seemed like a lot once i got to making! i also had some italian chicken sausages that i wanted to use up, so i browned them in a skillet and put them in a layer under the ricotta. i also used an egg substitute and omitted the parsley.

sweetie had some for lunch and raved about it. she thought it would be excellent w/out the sausage too. i am headed to the kitchen to have some for dinner.

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grilled portobello-goat cheese pitas

sweetie and i really enjoyed this quick, light dinner last night.

grilled portobello-goat cheese pitas

i wanted to throw some organic spinach on top, but our grocer was OUT of organic baby spinach!! so next time i hope to make this a bit more robust veggie meal.

i also cut up the portobello mushrooms so it was a bit easier to eat, as our pita was thinner & thus crunchy after grilling. we ate this more like a pizza, in slices.

roasted asparagus & mushroom soup

i just made some roasted asparagus & mushroom soup for the freezer. we are headed out of town & i needed to use up some veggies, so i....

roasted them w/ some garlic
threw them in a pot
added some organic low sodium chicken stock
cilantro
salt
pepper
used the immersion blender
voila
soup

i will probably end up adding some brown rice & other flavorings when i am ready to serve.
i do like a drizzle of toasted sesame oil on top & a splash of garlic chili sauce for added flavor dimension.

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asian chicken stir fry w/ jasmine rice

this was a super easy meal, from the side of the jasmine rice box.


1T veggie oil
2 gloves garlic
stirfry garlic until fragrant
then add
8oz chicken, cubed
stir fry until meat is cooked
add veggies of choice

2T fish sauce
2t sugar (i used agave syrup)
stir fry until cooked down

remove from heat, stir in 1 cup chopped basil
serve over jasmine rice
i squeezed some lime over it all & thought it was DELISH & done in 20 min (just due to the rice)

we had this for lunch one day & we really enjoyed it...next time i might try tofu & chinese broccoli

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