A side of tantrum with your pasta???

We are into mile 18 of the school holiday marathon. We've done crafts, games, TV, movies, puzzles,bike riding, muffin baking and every other conceivable child-centric activity. We are coming down the homestretch, and my husband will be home for a few days, so he can think up clever activities for the girlies.

I made the world's easiest dinner tonight, pasta with tomato sauce and ground turkey. 2 pots, 1 with water to boil pasta. While the pasta cooks, heat the other pot with a little olive oil and set on high. Brown the ground turkey for 4-5 minutes or until cooked through.

Here's the "tricky" part, open a jar of tomato sauce, pour over ground turkey, add a pinch of salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Continue cooking until pasta is ready. Voila! a true gourmand meal for discerning elementary palates!!

Emma pitched a fit because it wasn't (and I quote) "the sauce she wanted!!!!!" She pushed the sauce across the table which got her promptly sent to her room to cool down. She came down, I insisted like a always do that she eat 1 bite, which she did, then proceeded to eat 2 bowls of the sauce and not the pasta- go figure. I am always amazed at the (il) logic of kids...

Am putting the kids in bed by 6:30 p.m. tonight so I can get into bed early and veg out!!!

Lentil dal

It was a pretty gray Sunday, but nice because we were all happy to hang out in the house. I made another pot of split pea soup and I had bought some lentils from Kalustyan's a while ago that I wanted to cook.

I love Indian food, but don't make it too often, as I don't have a lot of the spices and quite frankly, am a little intimidated by it.

I made a basic Dal, (which is cooked lentils) by first rinsing 2 cups of lentils in water. In a shallow pan with a lid, I toasted 1/2 C. mustard seeds in a teaspoon of olive oil until they began to pop open, about 1 minute. When they began to pop (you can hear them), I removed the pan from the heat, drained the lentils, and added them to the pot. I covered them with about 2 inches of water and brought them to a boil. I added in a diced onion,2 cubes each of frozen garlic, ginger and cilantro, a teaspoon of turmeric and cumin, a large teaspoon of spicy curry paste, and a pinch of salt.

I cooked the lentils covered on low heat for about 30 minutes, then threw in 1 C. of golden raisins. Most recipes say to add in 1 C. diced tomatoes, but I didn't have any, so I didn't!

I added in a little more water (about 1 C.) and continued cooking the lentils until they became soft, another 20 minutes. I cooked some rice and we enjoyed a plate of dal, rice and split pea soup.

The girls ate the last little bit of honey hoisin chicken, rice, and split pea soup. My friend brought a wonderful loaf of pear nut quick bread, I'll see if I can get the recipe.

Saturday hang out

We had a quiet day today, the kids hung out, watched cartoons, we rode bikes outside because the weather was so mild and I took the girls and a friend to a matinee of Alvin and the Chipmunks. As I was sitting in the theatre I smiled because this is my life. We go to all of the kids movies, are excited about upcoming previews and look forward to watching the movie when it comes out on DVD. The movie was cute and I was happy to have spent a little "girl time" with the girls. Abby had a meltdown when we returned to the car and promptly fell fast asleep. The moment I put her in bed, she woke up and said she was hungry!

Thankfully, I had made the honey-ginger hoisin chicken last night. I reheated it, gave the girls some frozen peas and the rest of some leftover pasta with tomato sauce. One liked the chicken and ate 2 thighs, the other didn't. Story of my life!!!

I have some ground turkey and black beans for tomorrow and am contemplating what to do with them. Will let you know.

P.S. I got a phone call early this morning from WTNH show asking where I was, the new producer apparently sent the wrong confirmation date for me, so I will be taping the Last Minute Cocktail Party segment to air at a later date. Will let you know when it airs...

Honey ginger chicken

My girlfriend took me to an amazing tiny restaurant last night, it's called Valencia Luncheria, it's on 172 Main Street in Norwalk. This is my kind of food. We had black bean soup, an ear of corn with a lime cilantro butter, arepas, which are like corn cakes filled with an assortment of different yummy things, ours had beef. We had a chicken liver emapanada, which my friend was not thrilled about, but I like to try new things, and we had some roasted pork which was incredible. The food came with plantains, which are sweet cooked green bananas-wow!!

The place is tiny, but the food is so worth it! I made chicken thighs with a ginger honey hoisin sauce. It's very easy, I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs, preheated the oven to 400 and placed the chicken thighs in a shallow pan, like a glass brownie pan. I combined 1/2 C. hoisin, 2 tbs. soy sauce, 3 cubes frozen ginger and a good big squeeze of honey. I spread this all over the chicken and baked it for about 25 minutes.

While this was baking, my neighbor (same friend from last night) showed up with more incredible take out from NY today. It was roasted chicken, spanish rice, black beans (which my kids LOVED and ate 2 servings of) and more plantains.

I like that the girls are now accustomed to at least trying a small bite of things, because at first my older daughter insisted she didn't like the beans, and 1 minute later, asked for a large serving of them on her plate. This is why I always stress the importance of serving everything to your kids, you just never know what's going to be a hit with them.

We will eat the chicken tomorrow with some sticky rice and edamame.

Ring in the New Year- The easy way!!

I am doing Good Morning Weekend on WTNH, Channel 8 this Sunday, 12/30 at 7:50 a.m. The segment is all about how to throw together a last minute New Year's Eve party. I wanted to share my segment recipes and tips with you.

I have a favor to ask those of you who read this blog. I have an Ask Nicole! button on my website-www.timetoeat.info and not many people have emailed to ask me any cooking questions. If you could ask me a question via the button or ask a friend to do so, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Here are 8 super easy, beautiful and delicious ideas to host a fantastic New Year's (or anytime) bash with friends!

1-White bean bruschetta:
1 can drained white cannelini beans
1/2 C. petite diced tomatoes with Italian Herbs
1 tbs. olive oil
1 cube frozen garlic
1 cube frozen parsley
1 cube frozen basil
pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper
lemon zest for garnish

Pita crackers or multi-colored vegetable crisps

Directions:

Mash olive oil, salt, pepper and frozen herbs together with the back of a fork. Mix in tomatoes and beans and stir to combine. Zest a lemon over the mixture and serve in a bowl with pita crackers, bread or vegetable crisps.

Other foods for your last minute New Year's Eve bash:

2-Hummus- Serve in a beautiful bowl, drizzle the top with a little olive oil, a pinch of herbed salt and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

3-Green olives

4-Marconi almonds with rosemary and olive oil- available at Trader Joe's

5-Jalapeno chicken sausage skewers with mango chutney dipping sauce- available at Trader Joe's.
Slice sausage into 2" thick slices and brown in a pan for 3-4 minutes per side or until cooked through. Brush sausage with chutney before skewering and serve with chutney in a small bowl for dipping.

6-Tiny Mozzarella salad with tomatoes and basil:
8 oz. container of Ciliegine- tiny fresh mozzarella balls
2-3 tbs. olive oil
1/2 C. petite diced tomatoes with Italian herbs
2 cubes frozen basil
2 cubs frozen garlic
pinch of kosher salt, pepper and red pepper flakes

Mash olive oil, salt, pepper, basil, and garlic cubes together with the back of a fork in a bowl. Add in tomatoes, red pepper flakes and drained mozzarella balls. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve with fresh sliced bread.

7-Seafood salad in endive leaves.
Buy prepared seafood salad-( Fjord Fisheries has an amazing Marlin spread) and spoon into endive cups. Serve on a plate.

8-Gravlax on black bread with boursin and capers.
Buy prepared Gravlax (TJ's has it) some thinly sliced pumpernickel bread, or thinly sliced white bread. Spread a small amount of Boursin on bread, slice into 1/4's and add a small rose of gravlax to the top of each bread. Garnish with a caper and serve.

Split Pea Soup.

We made it through Christmas day, everyone had fun, the girls were ecstatic and we were happy and tired. We had quite a bit of leftover ham from last night's meal (as I knew we would) so I decided to make split pea soup. It is incredibly easy and I wanted to share the recipe. If you don't have leftover ham, you can use ham hocks which are amazingly flavorful and pretty easy to find. You can also use a thick slice of ham that is already cooked. You can find this in the meat section of the market.

Here is the easy, easy recipe for split pea soup.

2 tbs. olive oil
3 cubes frozen garlic
2 C. sliced leeks- split them in half lengthwise and submerge them in a bowl of cold water to get the sand out.
2 C. sliced carrot
2 C. sliced celery
2 C. cubed ham or 2 ham hocks
2 C. dried split peas
32 oz. chicken stock
1 tsp. old bay seasoning
1 tsp. greek or italian seasoning
1 tsp. ground black pepper

Heat a large soup pot over medium high heat. Add the garlic cubes and olive oil. When the oil begins to sizzle, stir the garlic and add the leeks. Saute for 3 minutes until the leeks begin to take on some color. Add in carrots, celery, ham and split peas, stir to combine and add in chicken stock and seasoning. Bring to a boil, cover and lower heat to medium low and cook for 45 minutes until peas have softened. You can cook it for much much longer, but be sure to keep the heat very low.

My younger daughter had a friend over to play today and they wanted to have a "soup" playdate, so I let the girls add in the vegetables and pinches of salt. We are heading downstairs now to eat the soup.

Yum!

Merry Christmas.

It's Christmas Eve, the stockings and cookies and reindeer food and milk and carrots have alllll been laid out for the big man's arrival tomorrow morning, the girls are really excited and I have to admit, it's fun to get caught up in their excitement. I am grateful for so many things on this Christmas eve, a healthy family, a roof over our heads, lovely friends. It's so easy to get caught up in the gift buying, I've enjoyed remembering the gratitude I feel for all of the gifts we already have.

We prepped most of our meal for tomorrow. I am baking a fresh ham, I made orange cranberry sauce, a sweet potato and Yukon gold gratin dauphinoise. It is decadent and delicious. We are also having roasted brussel sprouts, fennel and carrots with dried cranberries and roasted chestnuts.

I wanted to share my recipe for this decadent potato dish:

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and VERY thinly sliced, use a mandolin if possible
3 yukon gold potatoes, also peeled and thinly sliced.
4 C. heavy cream
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp. cracked black pepper
1 pinch of grated nutmeg
2 C. grated Gruyere cheese
1 tbs. butter
Chives for garnish

This dish can be prepped a day in advance and baked the next day for your meal.

Warm heavy cream in a large wide pot. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add thinly sliced potatoes and cook in warm cream for 3-4 minutes. Grease a deep casserole pan with butter and pour 1/2 the potatoes and milk into pan. Sprinkle 1 C. of the grated Gruyere cheese, and layer the remaining potatoes and cream to the top. Sprinkle remaining cheese to the top of the casserole and bake uncovered at 375 for 35-40 minutes or until top becomes golden. Garnish with finely chopped chives and serve. It is rich and delicious.

May your day be filled with love and warmth. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

A movie streak

We had a fun day decorating Christmas cookies with a couple of our neighbors. They share Hanukkah with us, and we reciprocate with cookie decorating. I got really organized this year and bought a disposable tablecloth, a bunch of fun cookie sprinkles, etc... and made the cookies and frosting ahead of time so all we had to do was decorate.

I made some hot cider and cranked up the Christmas tunes on our IPod and we were all on our merry way. I have to admit that the cookies held the kids interest for about 18 minutes, but the adults decorated cookies for quite a while longer. I always forget how much fun it is to decorate cookies and we all really enjoyed ourselves. The best part was the clean up, I simply wrapped up the disposable tablecloth and threw the sticky sugary mess in the trash.

My husband took me to the movies (again) tonight and we saw I Am Legend. It was very scary and my hands were sore from squeezing his leg! We got take home tonight from Taipan. We shared the coconut curry soup and a ground chicken in lettuce leaves that is delicious.

We are going to NY tomorrow to take the kids to see the Nutcracker at Lincoln Center and in the morning, I am having new press shots taken. They will be up on the website eventually, I am even contemplating writing another cookbook. If anyone has any requests for something they'd like to see in my new book, please let me know.

Am looking forward to tomorrow, it should be fun, fun, fun!

Joy of cookies!

Happy Holiday everyone!!!

I had my last day of work for the 2007 year, and what a year it was! Business was the best it's been, thanks to my fantastic clients, and catering brought my workload up to a frenzied pitch...

I treated myself to a good loooong massage this afternoon and a movie with a friend. We was Sweeney Todd which was excellent, but rather gruesome.

Anyhow, I came home and got to work preparing sugar cookies for our cookie decorating day tomorrow in preparation for the big man in red. We used the Joy of Cooking Sugar cookie recipe, it's super easy to make, but don't forget to let your butter come to room temp. for at least 1 day before you make these- do NOT skimp and try to microwave the butter, it throws the consistency of the cookie way off. Here's the recipe we used tonight. Roll the cookies out as thin as you can on a well floured work space and bake them until they are just cooked through, they shouldn't have any color to them.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until very fluffy and well blended. Add and beat in the egg, baking powder, salt, and vanilla until evenly incorporated. Stir in flour until well blended and smooth.

Roll the dough out on floured parchment paper if using immediately, if not, roll into a ball and cover with saran wrap until ready to use.

WHEN READY TO BAKE:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets.

Working with 1 portion of dough (leave the other refrigerated), gently peel away and replace 1 sheet of the wax paper. (This will make it easier to lift the cookies from the paper later.) Peel off and discard the second layer. Using 2- or 3-inch cutters, cut out cookies. With a wide spatula, carefully transfer them from the wax paper to the cookie sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart.


Bake for 6 to 9 minutes, or until cookies are just slightly colored. Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cookies firm up, 1 to 2 minutes, Then transfer the cookies to wire racks and let stand until thoroughly cool.

Separate but equal??

I wanted to share a great recipe that I made at work today with some left over cooked chicken. This is NOT a kid friendly meal, at least I know my kids are not quite ready for cilantro, but your may, so give it a try, you never know...

Anyhow, here it is. You can use any left over cooked chicken

2 C. cooked chicken
1/2 bunch cilantro- chopped
juice from 1 lime
1/2 diced red pepper
2 stalks diced celery
2 stalks diced scallion
1 C. dried cranberries
1 C. toasted slivered almonds
2 tsp. rice wine vinegar
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. fish sauce (available at any Asian grocery store)
1 tsp. sesame oil
pinch of toasted sesame seeds

Process the chicken in a Cuisinart for 30 seconds or until chicken is finely chopped, but NOT pureed. In a bowl, combine all ingredients and stir until everything has been combined. Can be eaten immediately or kept in the fridge until ready to eat. I am eating over a salad and with some crackers.

The kids are getting pasta and peas!

A 5:40 Feast!

I had dinner with a good friend tonight, and between the 2 of us, we had about 7 million kids! How to feed everyone? Make a little feast. I bought a few things from Trader Joe's today and rummaged around my fridge, here's what we came up with for dinner:
-a plate of raw sliced veggies

-salad with romaine, assorted veggies, orange infused dried cranberries, and a handful of roasted chestnuts

-steamed edamame and crab meat shumai (dumplings)- from Fuji Market in Greenwich- I think it's exit 4 or 5 off the 95. A fantastic little Japanese market where absolutely everything is written in Japanese and you have to look at the pictures and guess!

-skewered chipotle chicken- frozen from TJ's

-frozen jasmine rice from TJ's

-a bag of frozen veggies- peas, green beans and julienned carrots- from TJ's that I steamed and added a little butter and a pinch of salt

-steamed fresh asparagus

-a yummy little frozen pizza from TJ's with Gruyere, caramelized onion and proscuitto

-a little leftover chili from last night's dinner -see yesterday's post for recipe

-a bit of homemade guacamole-yummy

-cheese and spinach tortellini

Everyone found something that filled their tummies and it always makes me happy to share a meal with people I love.

Chili love

It was freeeezing here today! I had recently made chili and the girls loved it! They asked for it again so I wanted to share my easy and healthy recipe with you. Emma came home from school this afternoon and asked for a bowl for her snack, then proceeded to eat it 2 hours later for dinner with a matzoh cracker!!

Here's the recipe:
1 tbs. olive oil
1/2 C. diced onion, fresh or frozen
1 lb. 90% lean ground beef
1 can cannellini (white) beans rinsed
1 can kidney beans rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes -I found fire roasted ones today and they were yummy.
3 tbs. chili powder
1 tbs. cumin
a good pinch of 2 of kosher salt
optional- red hot sauce

Heat olive oil on medium high in a deep pot. When it begins to sizzle, add onions and saute for 3 minutes, or until they begin to turn golden brown. Add beef and break up in pot with a wooden spoon so you don't have big chunks. Saute for 5-6 minutes until beef is almost cooked through. Add 2 cans of beans and tomatoes, stir to combine. Add chili powder, cumin and salt. Stir to combine, lower heat to medium, cover and cook for at least 25 minutes to let flavors combine.

You can add a handful of frozen roasted corn, you can serve the chili over rice or pasta, or just eat it in a bowl with a little shredded cheese and a handful of chopped scallions on top. It's perfect for cold winter afternoons.

Happy Birthday Helena.

We catered Helena Chistensen's birthday party last night. She is beautiful and it was a gorgeous party. Michael Stipe from R.E.M was there as was Josh Hartman. The food was beautiful and everything went smoothly. I got home in the weeeeee hours of the morning and am feeling rather dull today, but there is one more party tonight before the end of my season.

Festivities in Norwalk, (the caterer who I work for) continues to create beautiful events, keep it up!

www.festivitiesevents.com

Lazy mom meets golden arches

I picked up 2 tired and cranky children from school today. They didn't even want to visit Santa!!??

What brings smiles to most children's faces? Why it's the Golden Arches, yes, McDonalds. Tonight called for 2 Happy Meals. As if I had sprinkled magic pixie dust on the girls, the mere mention of Mickie D's and their little faces perked up.

They drove home with the anticipation of dinner with the tv on and footsies- why not!!

I ate some leftover steak, and a few frozen (not so good) latkes from Trader Joe's, don't buy them, they're pretty tasteless.

There is the threat of snow looming for tomorrow morning and it is very likely we will have a snow day.

I cleaned and pounded 220 chicken thighs today at work, it was hell!!! Along with preparing a few assorted vinaigrettes and sauces, I am ready for a H-O-T bath and early to bed.

I'm going to be a rebel tonight and not make the kids lunches.

Gingerbread trifle

Happy Holidays to everyone. I am teaching a holiday hors' d'oeuvres and desserts class tomorrow and wanted to share my recipe for a gingerbread trifle that is really, really easy.

Gingerbread Trifle

Gingerbread cake-prepared
12 oz. whipping cream
2 tbs. powdered sugar
½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
3 tbs. crystallized ginger
Sliced strawberries
Toffee Bits


Cube gingerbread and store in an airtight container. Whip cream with a hand mixer for 4 minutes in a cold metal bowl. As cream thickens, add powdered sugar and pumpkin pie spice and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Can be prepared and stored in the refrigerator over a bowl of ice for 2 hours. Slice strawberries and toss in diced crystallized ginger. Let stand at least 1 hour to macerate. Can also be made 1 day in advance.

Layer in a trifle bowl gingerbread, strawberries, toffee bits and whipped cream in alternating layers. Top layer should be whipped cream and toffee bits. Serve cold.

We went to a friends house tonight and ate steak and roasted salmon. She prepared is very easily, a little olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper and 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary on top. She baked it in the oven (covered I think) for about 20 minutes on 375. We had couscous and green beans with it.

I'm working all day tomorrow and tomorrow night, so Kirk is on his own for dinner, my guess is he'll either make ramen soup for the girls with some fresh fruit or order Chinese!! :)

Roasting Chickens

Tonight's dinner is a weekly staple in our house. Roasted chicken, some type of veg and a starch. To me, it's a quintessential family meal, healthy and balanced.

I had 4 split chicken breasts with skin and bone. I placed them in a casserole pan, squeezed the juice from 1/2 a lemon, drizzled olive oil on the breasts, and sprinkled a little Adobo seasoning and pepper. Those went in the oven at 425 for about 35-40 minutes. No need to check on them, they always turn out with crispy skin and moist meat.

I bought a cauliflower and sliced them into 1/8ts, drizzled them with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper, and a little pinch of curry powder. Those also went into the oven about 20 minutes into cooking the chicken. If you don't love curry, you can certainly leave it out.

I bought some great Israeli couscous with quinoa a while ago from Trader Joes. It's delicious and easy to make. Boil 1 3/4 C. chicken stock (or water), and a drizzle of olive oil. When the liquid boils, add 1 1/4 C. of the couscous and bring to a boil. When the liquid boils, reduce the heat to med. low, cover and simmer for about 12 minutes or until all of the liquid is gone.

The kids always eat this meal and it makes good leftovers too.

Snow, snow, snow!

Our first day of snow! We were all excited and the girls spent a good portion of the morning with their neighborhood friends playing and laughing. I made French toast bites that have become a staple breakfast in our house. I thought I'd share this healthy and easy recipe for you.

sliced baguette pieces
1 C. egg whites (we use the egg whites that you can buy that have already been separated)
1/2 C. fat free milk
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tbs. unsalted butter

Preheat a large nonstick pan or a griddle to medium high heat. Whisk egg whites, milk, sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. When the griddle is hot, spread the pat of butter to coat the surface. Dip each piece of baguette in the egg milk mixture and cook for 4-5 minutes per side. Turn once and cook until each side is golden.

I like to serve these with sliced banana or strawberries and a little maple syrup.

I like to give the girls a warm breakfast when it's so cold outside and this is fast, healthy and easy.

Give it a try!