Recipe
I have to tell you, I feel less and less like cooking every day. Pregnancy took me completely by surprise by destroying my appetite. No food sounds good and I don’t really want to be around it most of the time.
Of course I still get hungry, so eventually I have to come up something –anything- to eat, and heaven forbid I let the husband go hungry. Every evening goes a little bit like this. {Sometimes I start asking in the middle of the day just to get the ball rolling.}
“What do you want for dinner?”
“I don’t know, what do you want?”
“I don’t, I came up with something yesterday.”
“Well that was yesterday. If you want to eat again today, you have to come up with something.”
And so on and so forth; you get the picture.
The days of long cooked meals and elaborate ideas has long flown out the window. Now, the easier the better.
My latest solution? Pita pockets. I throw some vegetables in the oven to roast, some pitas in the toaster, and then act like I concocted a meal fit for a queen. Hey, you never know, maybe the queen loves veggies too.
So this isn’t so much a recipe as it is a meal idea, for the next time you might be struggling to come up with a dinner {or lunch} idea.
Roasted Red Pepper Portabella Pita Pockets
1 pint baby portabella mushrooms
1-2 red bell peppers
large handful of mixed greens
balsamic vinegar
2 whole wheat pita pockets
Slice the red bell peppers into quarters. Lay skin side up on a baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes under the broiler, until the skin starts to char. You can peel the skin off if you’d like, but I leave it on.
Bake the mushrooms and any other veggies you want at 350 for about 20 minutes.
Toast the pitas.
Toss the mixed greens in balsamic vinegar, then stuff into the pitas. When the veggies are done, cut into smaller pieces as needed and place inside the pita.
I roasted a bunch of asparagus along side the mushrooms as a side dish. They’re simply coated in olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper- delicious.
Easy enough, right? If you make a bunch of extra roasted veggies, next time around all you have to do is stuff the pitas.
What’s your favorite no think meal?
*Don’t forget to enter the 7th generation & Le Creuset giveaway- ends tonight at midnight!*
The latest on tiny sneakers: Cloth Diapers 101
Recipe
These beautiful, perfect-temperature spring days are limited- they come and go before you can even acknowledge it’s really spring.
The last thing I want to do on those beautiful days is spend hours cooped up in the kitchen. {Ok, that’s the last thing I want to do any day.} It’s easy to forget delicious meals don’t have to take a lot of work. Here’s the perfect example of an easy healthy meal that tastes like it took a long time, but really all you have to do is boil water.
Spring Fresh Pasta
{choose ingredient amounts based on number of servings desired and to taste- you can’t mess it up}
Whole wheat spaghetti
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Garlic, minced
Thyme
Asparagus
Sliced almonds
Salt/pepper
Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain water and set pasta aside. Lower temperature. In the same pan, heat olive oil. Add garlic and saute for just a few minutes. Add lemon juice and thyme, and return pasta to pot. Mix and add more oil/lemon juice as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
For asparagus, chop rough ends off. Place on baking sheet and toss in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, then top with a handful of sliced almonds. Roast asparagus at 450 for 10 minutes, turning half way through.
Slice asparagus and place on top of hot pasta. Top with almonds.
Done and done!
You can recreate the same dish with any spring veggies for variety.
What’s your favorite easy-prep meal? Mine’s pasta and rice & beans!
Foodbuzz
Imagine the moment when you hear “And now introducing the bride & groom for the first time as Mr & Mrs SoS!” It should be a moment you remember forever. You’ve been planning for months- down to every detail including the number of petals on each flower on the centerpieces. Not to mention the menu- ahh the wedding menu, one of the most important pieces of that special day. Brides agonize over picking the perfect dishes- their favorite foods, foods the guests will enjoy, what dishes will complement each other, how you will eat them- hors d’oeuvres or full course meal?
Only you can’t focus on that special moment because you’re starving. After anxiously awaiting the ceremony, then taking a million pictures of every great aunt, uncle, and Grandma, all you want is a glass of wine and big plate of that food you so deliberately chose for this moment.
But one more thing- all those pictures with Aunt Fiona made you miss the cocktail hour, and the first course. The instant you walk into the room, everyone wants to talk to you. Try though you may, you can’t force your way through the adoration to the buffet table. Before you know it, it’s time to cut the cake. Perfect- you’ll finally get to enjoy some of your laborious wedding choices…but they immediately take the cake away to serve the other guests.
The hours you spent specifically picking each dish….gone. You hope everyone else enjoyed it, but you have no idea. You didn’t get any.
The husband and I attended 11 weddings last year. Yup, 11. (And that’s just the ones we could make it to!) When you’ve been to that many weddings, you start to notice things. One of the things we noticed over and over is that bride & groom hardly ever get a chance to eat the food they spent hours selecting for their special day. (I’m sure we took particular notice of this since we were still hurting over our missed chance at fine cuisine at our own wedding!)
If you’ve ever planned a wedding or been along side someone else who’s planning a wedding, you know the work that goes into every little detail. Even the non-foodies spent hours deliberating over food choices and dining styles.
But the moment’s passed; you’ve missed out on the food. What are you going to do about it? Enter Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: 24 meals, 24 hours, 24 blogs. Thanks to 24, 24, 24, we were able to recreate some of those special dishes for our newlywed friends.
Fresh sushi rolls for Emily- the one gluten-free item on the menu that disappeared before she got to the reception. The special apple-goat cheese-pecan salad my step-sister and her now husband created themselves to share their love of fresh food with their guests. The sweet potato bar Courtney and her now husband missed out on due to a stomach bug that pervaded the wedding party at the most inconvenient of times. And let’s not forget the delicious red velvet cupcakes Elizabeth & Joe missed out on- gluten-free for Joe, regular for Elizabeth!
From signature drinks to delectable desserts, I asked each invitee to share with me their favorite and most missed items on their wedding day. When February 27th rolled around, I got set to work recreating those dishes.
The Menu
Salad Greens with Maple Vinaigrette: Elizabeth & Joe
Fresh Sushi Rolls: Emily & Mike
Adobo Marinated Chicken Kabobs: Sara & Robby
Southern Shrimp & Grits: David & Ashley
Mashed Sweet Potatoes: Courtney & Justin
Roasted Asparagus & Assorted Cheeses: Heather & Chris
Red Velvet Cupcakes: Elizabeth & Joe
The Recipes
Salad Greens with Maple Vinaigrette
Mixed greens
Sliced granny smith apples
Candied pecans
Fresh goat cheese; crumbled
Maple vinaigrette:
– 1/8c apple cider vinegar
– 1/8c red wine vinegar
– 1/2c extra virgin olive oil
– 3T maple syrup
– 2T Dijon mustard
– Salt & Pepper
Adobo Marinated Chicken Kabobs
Chicken breasts, pounded thin & cut in long strips
Marinade:
– 1/2c orange juice
-2T lime juice
-1T white vinegar
-1-2 chipotle chiles
– 2 cloves garlic
-1/2t cumin
-Salt & pepper
Marinate chicken 30-60 minutes. Thread on to bamboo skewers (soak in water to prevent burning). Place on hot grill; cook several minutes on each side until cooked through.
Southern Shrimp & Grits
1 cup stone ground grits
2 cups water
2 cups chicken broth + 1/4c for shrimp
1 yellow onion, chopped
1T butter
1/2c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Shrimp
2 T flour
1T lemon juice
Splash hot pepper sauce
Salt & pepper
Stir grits into boiling water & broth. Simmer ~25 minutes, until liquid is absorbed. While grits are simmering, sauté onions. Remove grits from heat; stir in butter, cheese, and onions. Saute shrimp over medium heat with remaining 1/4c chicken broth. Stir in flour, lemon juice, & hot sauce. Cook until shrimp turn pink. Season shrimp & grits with salt & pepper. Top with shredded cheese.
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
4 large sweet potatoes
1/2c Milk
1T butter
1/2T brown sugar
Bake sweet potatoes in oven or microwave. Let cool slightly and scrap insides into bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Serve with crushed pecans and shredded cheddar cheese for toppings.
Roasted Asparagus
1lb asparagus
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Coat asparagus in olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Can be served hot or cold.
Sushi
Cream cheese rolls
Assorted Cheeses
Buy cheese. Cut in cubes. I used sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
I used the recipe from the Babycakes cookbook.
[To be honest, they didn’t turn out well- at the last minute I transformed them into cream cheese filled & chocolate drizzled volcanoes by crumbling the cupcakes and mixing them with the icing.)
Drinks
My favorite part: personalized bottles of wine for each of the couples. 🙂
The ten of us enjoyed a great evening, reminiscing about our weddings & talking about upcoming nuptials. The girls were in white; the boys in black. (We’re brides & grooms after all!). The music playing in the background was songs we played at our weddings, and a slide show of wedding photos played on the television. Decorations were themed around each of our bridal party colors- three shades of blue, deep purple, and champagne; candles & flowers throughout.
Wouldn’t you love to attend your own wedding a second time, and have time to soak it all in and enjoy the food this time around?! That’s Wedded Bliss – Take 2. Thank you Foodbuzz for this opportunity!!
