Homemade Italian Seasoning

In an effort to help my oldest son I have instituted a no electronics rule until 7 pm in our house. Basically my kids are only allowed 1/2 of electronics and then by 8 they have to be ready for bed and we read a science or history book for an hour. My oldest claims that I am a horribly mean mommy, however, he has come home with A's on all his tests and papers for the last week and a half. Personally I view the fact that my kids sometimes think my rules are mean as evidence that I'm doing a good job. I have never claimed to want to be my kids best friends. What I do want is for my kids to be successful adults and part of that means not reacting when the rules that I institute result in one of my kids telling me that I'm ruining their lives. In reality I'm doing just the opposite. It would be easier for me if tonight I just let my kids play Minecraft for hours while I caught up on my favorite television shows. Their future wouldn't be as bright though and that's more important to me than taking the easy route.

I attempt to make everything I can from scratch. Having an herb garden helps tremendously since I can dry the fresh herbs and use them in spice mixes etc. Seasoning mixes are one of the easiest things to make at home and cost a fraction of the money of store bought. The following is a recipe for Homemade Italian Seasoning.

Adapted from Taste of Home.

Homemade Italian Seasoning

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons dried basil
• 3 tablespoons dried oregano
• 3 tablespoons dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary

Cooking Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a bowl, pestle, or spice grinder. Grind spices (with a back of a spoon if doing by hand) until the spice blend becomes coarse.

Making simple pantry items at home can save a lot of money over the course of the year and taste so much better than store bought. Plus they make great gifts as part of a food gift basket! 

Basil Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting

I wish that the internet would turn into a more grown-up version of its current self. As many of you may have noticed I have taken a little time away from blogging. The last year blogging has lost some of the charm it had when I first started (which was a while ago now). My kids were younger when I started, my youngest still took naps, and my oldest hadn't yet started school. I also feel that the internet has changed dramatically. While I love to talk about certain aspects of my life, I am a little burnt out of the over sharing and general debate nature that the internet and social media in particular have taken on. I really hate controversy. When possible I avoid it because 99 percent of the time I have vastly different opinions than everyone else. I grew up in Seattle in a very liberal household, went to a beyond liberal arts school (the same school k-12 with only 300 students), paid my own way through undergraduate and graduate school, and became the first person in my family to graduate college. I grew up very poor, we stood in line at the church food bank most weeks and my father worked his whole life in jobs that barely paid enough to survive. My opinions are a little crazy according to my husband, I rarely agree with any political party and would be perfectly happy avoiding contact with people with overzealous opinions (debating other people rarely leads to any kind of change of opinions). So the internet and I have had to have less contact. I honestly find social media and the internet a little tiring these days. I wish that people could learn the fine act of knowing when to keep their opinions to themselves, not everything has to be made into an argument or debate. Sometimes a simple 'Have a nice day' is just that and nothing more. I guess I am waiting for the internet to grow up, I'm too old to deal with all the drama.

My garden has been growing like crazy and I am swimming in fresh herbs. While I love basil, I get tried of making pesto over and over again so I decided to try a dessert recipe using the abundance of fresh garden basil I currently possess. I came up with the following recipe for Chocolate Basil Cake with Buttercream Frosting. Enjoy!

Basil Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting

Recipe Type: Dessert

Preparation Time: 0h, 15m

Cooking Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 0h, 40m

Yield: Serves 9

Adapted from The Food Network and Powerhungry.com

Basil Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

• 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (or gluten free replacement)
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 3 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons whipping cream

Cooking Directions

1. Grease a 9 inch cake pan.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a food processor chop the basil and sugar until finely chopped.
4. Combine the basil/sugar mixture, melted butter, and cocoa powder until blended. Add the eggs one at a time, and whisk until smooth.
5. Add the vanilla.
6. In another bowl whisk the baking soda, salt and flour until blended.
7. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
8. Add hot water and stir just until combined (do not over stir or your cake will be flat).
9. Pour batter into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.
10. After the cake has cooled make frosting.
11. In a standing mixer whisk butter and sugar together on low speed until blended. Turn up speed to medium and mix another 3 minutes.
12. Add cream and vanilla, beat for another 1-2 minutes on medium. Add more cream if consistency is too thick to spread.
13. Spread cake with frosting and enjoy!

My boys both start school in a week and a half so for the first time in 9 years I will have the house to myself for at least a couple of hours a day. I should have more frequent posts in the next couple of months I promise. 

Leftover Herb Pesto

Leftover Herb Pesto

It seems to be bug season in my back yard. I made the mistake of going out to trim my tomatoes this evening. Very bad idea. I literally came in and had to take a benadryl since I had so many bites. Cicadas are the other fun visitor my yard now has. They arrived a couple of weeks back. In previous years they have arrived earlier, but this year they didn't arrive until August. Growing up in Seattle I had no idea what a cicada was when I moved here. The first night I tried to fall asleep in my new apartment I was driven crazy by a deafening noise. I had a giant tree outside my window and between the train that went through at 2 am and the cicadas I decided I would never sleep again. Over the years I have gotten used to their deafening noise, but they still aren't my favorite summer sound. Apparently we aren't even supposed to have cicadas this year, wrong. They are in my front yard and they are huge. Plus I don't trust any insect that is part of a horde. It just sounds wrong. So I am avoiding my yard for a couple of days until the bugs leave me alone. Yesterday I had to venture into my yard to cut back my herb garden. It has gone crazy in the last week and I am swimming in basil, so time to make pesto. I tried a new recipe for Leftover-Herb Pesto from Martha Stewart Living.

Virginia Point Park, Kenova, WV

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes 5 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 3/4 cup of pesto. For the pesto I used basil and tarragon from my garden, pine nuts for the nuts and an extra clove of garlic. I prefer my pesto to have a pretty strong garlic taste. I also added part of the cheese to the food processor and then added the other half to the finished pesto. I prefer the texture with this method. Plus the flavor of the cheese come through better.

View From Virginia Point Park, Kenova, WV

I love making quick and easy recipes. Pesto is a great way to use herbs that you have leftover in your fridge or garden and the taste can be easily adapted based on what ingredients you have on hand. In addition to serving with pasta, this recipe would be great with chicken or fish. I love using pesto with grilled salmon, it's wonderful.

For the recipe go to (video form) Leftover Herb Pesto.

Leftover Herb Pesto

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A very simple 7 ingredient pesto recipe. Can be made with any leftover green vegetable in your fridge and a variety of nuts.

Preparation Time: 0h, 5m

Total Time: 0h, 5m

Yield: 3/4 cup

Heirloom Tomato Pizza Sauce

Heirloom Tomato Pizza Sauce and Homemade Pizza Crust

According to my husband I am mean. Not mean to people's faces, but the fact that my expectations of how other people should behave is too high. All of this came to mind today when I picked up my two boys from their last day of day camp at our local library. I was raised that you bring a small card and gift at the end of the school year to thank the teacher for taking care of (dealing with) your children. So I stopped and bought a card and a small gift card to give to their teacher for the week. My kids were very excited to give the card and thank their teacher. There was only one other child and her grandmother that thanked the teacher. I was a little miffed, but I let it go. Then when I was walking down the stairs I had two teenagers run past me without saying a word. They brushed me and I had to grab the rail. Maybe I am old school, but even at the grocery store when I walk in front of someone I say excuse me. I am beginning to worry that the generations under me seem to have lost respect. Then again maybe my husband is right and I am just too mean. The highlight of the last two days for me has been that my heirloom tomatoes are finally ripe. Since I have had an abundance of tomatoes I decided to make homemade pizza sauce. Here is the recipe I came up with:

• 6 heirloom tomatoes (Mr. Stripey and Mortgage Lifters)
• 3 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 sweet onion, minced
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced basil
• 1 teaspoon fresh minced oregano
• Pizza crust (I made mine from scratch)

Blanch the tomatoes to remove the skins. Place tomatoes in a food processor or blender and liquefy. You may remove the seeds if you wish, I keep them in. Add the olive oil to a pan and heat over medium heat. Add onion and let slightly brown. Add garlic and let cook for approximately 30 seconds. Take the pureed tomatoes and add to the onion and garlic. Make sure that you use a pan with a large surface area. It helps to make the sauce reduce. Turn the stove down to low. Allow the tomato sauce to cook until thickened, approximately an hour to 1 1/2. The sauce should be very thick and have reduced a great deal. Salt.

Heirloom Tomato Pizza Sauce

After the sauce is done make your pizza! I cook my pizza on a pizza stone at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Of course I make a gluten free version for myself, since I can't have regular pizza crust :) That's it, it has a great sweet taste that is perfect for pizza.

Breakfast From Your Herb Garden: Cinnamon Basil and Blackberry Scones

Gluten Free Cinnamon Basil Blackberry Scones

As many of you have read my herb garden disappeared off my porch last week. At first I was angry and then I called my mother-in-law. She has heard many of my grips over the years and she is always a reassuring presence when I am upset. When my mother passed away 9 days after my oldest was born she quickly stepped in as my support system and has remained there ever since. Immediately after hearing about the theft of my herbs she headed to the Farmer's market. She showed up at my house with a big herb pot overflowing with herbs. Somehow she had gotten the whole pot for 5 dollars. Never underestimate the ability of a West Virginian woman to be able to haggle, it really is an art. She apparently also shared the theft of my herbs to everyone selling plants and came to my house with more than enough plants to start a great new garden plus the pot that was already started. The man that sold the herb garden that was already potted had done a great job starting the pot, but it needed to be cut back, trained and nothing was labeled. So that has been my pet project this week. I have Googled and learned more about uses for herbs than I ever knew before. It turns out that I have over 15 different herbs in the pot, some of which I have never used before. So this week you will be seeing a lot of recipes using fresh herbs. This morning I tried a new recipe for Blackberry Scones with Cinnamon Basil.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 35 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. The largest change I made was to use gluten free all purpose flour. I did not add the salt since I find with gluten free flour I do not need it. The second biggest change that I made was to greatly reduce the amount of butter. The original recipe uses 1 1/4 cups of butter. While this would be delicious, it would be too much butter for gluten free baking (gluten free recipes tend to need the butter reduced). I also wanted to make it a better breakfast option and reducing the butter to one stick (1/2 cup) allowed for far less total fat content. In addition I used non-fat Greek yogurt. Finally, my dough was a lot stickier than the pictures in the original post. This is normal for gluten free baking, just make sure to roll the blackberries in a small amount of flour before adding them to the batter to keep them from bleeding and turning the dough purple.

My husband loved these. Since I made so many changes they are basically biscuits, not traditional scones. However, even my kids loved the scones and didn't notice that they were eating basil in a breakfast food. I would suggest that using strawberries would be an even better flavor combination. There is something about strawberries and basil that seem to go hand in hand. Overall, this recipe was a great way to use fresh herbs and could be changed to include other types of basil or berries.

For the recipe go to Blackberry Scones with Cinnamon Basil.

Absolutely Swimming in Homegrown Cherry Tomatoes? Try a Marinated Cherry Tomato Salad

Marinated Cherry Tomato Salad

Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream. My two-year-old has been chanting this phrase most of the day. It's definitely ice cream season in my household. Every member of my household has their favorite flavors: my kids love anything with chocolate, I prefer frozen yogurt, and my husband always loves weird mix-ins like potato chips. We can all agree that no matter how it's made ice cream spells summer. During the colder months ice cream rarely makes an appearance in my house. It can get very cold here in the middle of winter and when I'm freezing the last thing that I want is something to make me even colder. In the summer it's a different story. I roast in the humidity and ice cream is a great way to cool off. Another of my favorite summer foods is tomatoes. This year I am growing my own, they are growing like crazy and by next week they should be ready to pick. In the meantime I have been relying on store bought tomatoes. Last week I tried a new recipe for Marinated Cherry Tomato Salad from allrecipes.com.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 2 hours 10 minutes, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 6 to 8 servings. I did make a few modifications. First I only had two cups of cherry tomatoes, so I cut the recipe in half. Second, I substituted olive oil for vegetable oil. I prefer cooking with olive oil when possible. Finally, I allowed the salad to sit 4 hours to ensure that the tomatoes fully absorbed the flavors.

My oldest son thought these tomatoes were spicy. The vinegar taste is definitely adult orientated. As an adult I really like the taste of the apple cider vinegar. It blended very nicely with the tomatoes and the recipe made a nice light side for the pasta dish that we ate it with. Overall, a great way to use summer tomatoes.

For the recipe go to Marinated Cherry Tomato Salad.

Recipe for Tuscan Turkey Burgers with Fresh Basil

Tuscan Turkey Burgers with Fresh Basil and Tomatoes

I was so happy that tonight I was able to use fresh herbs from my herb garden for my dinner recipe. My herbs are doing better than I expected and will save me so much money this summer. Growing my own basil is one way that I know that I will save money since I use basil at least once a week for dinner. The herbs available at the grocery store are over priced and start to brown by the time I am able to use them. Being able to just go out and cut the amount that I need is so nice. Plus the flavor is noticeably better than store bought. One food I love adding fresh basil to is burgers. It can take a regular burger from ordinary to something memorable. Last week I tried a new recipe for Tuscan Turkey Burgers from Redbook magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First since I eat gluten free I made gluten free biscuits and then made bread crumbs in my food processor. I also used my indoor grill to cook the burgers, which helped to reduce the fat without reducing the flavor. For my serving I ate the burger between two gluten free biscuits, for the rest of my family I made homemade hamburger buns.

These burgers have a tendency to crumble when you try to flip them over so be careful. I actually waited until the next day to take the photo. After sitting in the fridge the burgers were much firmer and easier to deal with. It might be a good idea to place the burgers in the fridge to firm before cooking them. I thought these burgers were great without lettuce so if you are unable to find Boston lettuce you can leave it out. Overall these burgers turned out very moist and were enjoyed by my whole family.

For the recipe go to Tuscan Turkey Burgers.

Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce Recipe

Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce

My oldest has two weeks of school left. To say that he is ready to be done would be understatement. Getting him to be motivated to actually go to the bus in the morning has not been easy. He has also been very food picky. It might have a lot to do with the fact that he lost his first tooth this week and the new tooth coming in his been causing him discomfort. Due to all the activity in our household I have been trying to make quick and easy meals. Earlier this week I tried a new recipe for Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce from the May 2013 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

Gluten Free Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. Since I eat gluten free, but the rest of my family does not, I made two versions of this recipe. For the tomato mixture I used kalamata olives, unrinsed capers (we prefer the taste of the salt) and roma tomatoes. I divided the mixture between the regular spaghetti for my family and gluten free spiral pasta for me. Make sure to serve the dish soon after you add the mozzarella, if you wait it will melt and turn into a big cheese clump.

The flavors in this recipe are great. My two boys loved the olives and capers and dividing the tomato mixture worked out well. Not rinsing the capers gave the pasta a nice salty flavor, which I really liked. The sauce would work with variety of pasta types in case you aren't a fan of spaghetti or bucatini.

For the recipe go to Bucatini with Olive Caper Sauce.

Recipe for Pesto Pork with Polenta

Scallion-Basil Pesto with Pork Tenderloin, Spinach and Polenta

I can't believe how quickly this year is already going by. My oldest is done with school next month and will be in second grade next year. There are days when I fell overwhelmed and under appreciated staying at home and then I realize how quickly my kids are growing-up and how much I love spending so much time with them as they grow. As my kids are getting older they are also beginning to eat a lot more. Since both of my kids are boys I don't even want to think about how much food they will be consuming as teenagers. Plus they are close enough in age that they will both be eating my entire refrigerator at about the same time. Keeping snacks readily available and doubling recipes has become a must in my household. One meal that is always a favorite in my house is pork. It doesn't matter how I prepare it, my two boys absolutely love it. Last week I tried a new recipe for Pesto Pork with Polenta from the April 2012 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to this recipe. First to prepare the polenta I sliced it into 1/2 inch thick slices, brushed both sides with olive oil and seared the slices on my indoor electric grill until they had nice grill marks. As I've stated many times before you really need to temp pork. The recipe is 100 percent correct about pulling out the pork at 145 degrees. While resting the pork will cook another 5 degrees. Not letting pork rest or cooking it past 145 degrees will result in tough and overcooked meat. I found that I had to add very little salt to the pesto since Worcestershire sauce is high in salt.

I really like that this recipe is a complete meal. The polenta and spinach make great sides to the pork and the polenta ended up being the most popular part of the dish with my two sons. The pesto has a really nice flavor with an umami undertone from the Worcestershire sauce. In addition to the pork the pesto would also work nicely with fish dish due to its citrus taste.

For the recipe go to Pesto Pork with Polenta.

Gluten Free Asparagus Pesto

Gluten Free Asparagus Pesto

Pork is king in my household. As I've discussed before the males in my house are huge pork fans. Especially bacon, lots and lots of bacon. Growing-up I was a little different. I was a vegetarian beginning freshman year of high-school. Luckily my parents were very supportive and I lived in the Pacific NW so there were numerous places to purchase great vegetarian food. I stayed a vegetarian until I moved to West Virginia. Between graduate school and anemia I decided that adding meat back in would be a  good idea. Then I met my husband who thought vegetables were a garnish for meat. Over the years I have slowly reformed him into eating meat as an ingredient and we eat one to two vegetarian dinners a week. This week we tried a new recipe for Asparagus Pesto from the April 2013 issue of Food and Wine magazine.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 20 minutes, all of which is active and makes enough for a pound of pasta. I did make a few changes. Since I eat gluten free I substituted gluten free ziti for spaghetti. I found that the pesto need a significant amount of salt for the flavor not to be bland, don't be afraid to add salt.

The basil flavor in this recipe comes through more than the asparagus. This recipe would be great for someone that wasn't a fan of asparagus, but still wanted the health benefits. Crumbled bacon would be a great addition to this dish as a topping. Overall, a great way to add spring flavor and even my youngest son loved it.

For the recipe go to Asparagus Pesto.

35 Minute Rigatoni in Creamy Tomato Sauce

Growing-up we ate pasta at least twice a week. Pasta was inexpensive and my mother could stretch it to make enough for multiple meals. In college my cooking skills became a little lazy and I was guilty of eating a large amount of jarred pasta and spaghetti. This was partly due to the fact that I had to work at least 20 hours a week and take full time classes in order to continue to have my company pay my tuition. I had little time left after school, working and commuting to cook. Pasta was a quick way to fill me up and save money. After getting married I began to try to cook marinara and other pasta sauces from scratch. Now I make pasta at least once a week and pasta is one of my family's favorite meals. This weekend I tried a new recipe for Rigatoni in Creamy Tomato Sauce from the September 2011 issue of All You magazine.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 35 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 6 servings. I only made a few modifications to this recipe. First since I eat gluten free I used gluten free ziti. Secondly, instead of butter I used olive oil and agave instead of granulated sugar. Finally, I let the pasta cook until al dente and then cooked it the rest of the way in the sauce and then added the basil. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The pepperoni in this recipe is surprising. It creates a great taste that even my two picky children loved. I like that the taste was good for both adults and kids. Dinner time can oftentimes be a struggle, but this was a recipe that my whole family could agree upon. This is definitely a recipe I would make again.

For the recipe go to Rigatoni in Creamy Tomato Sauce.

Roasted Chicken with Basil and Snap Peas

My oldest son is in love with roasted chicken. He is in a very picky food stage and has decided that he pretty much doesn't eat anything. It seems that every week he changes what foods he hates. Last month he loved soup, then this week he informed me that he will no longer eat any type of soup. I know a large part of it has to do with being in school. He is strongly influenced by what his friends like and dislike. I just wish that his friends were a little less finicky. Luckily I still have a couple years until my youngest starts school and the real food struggles begin. Roasted chicken has become a weekly staple in our house since my son loves it. While he might turn his nose up at everything else, roasted chicken still holds a place in his heart. Last week I made a new recipe for Chicken and Snap Peas from Everyday Food magazine, which looked perfect for my picky oldest son.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes a total time of 30 minutes, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. I did make a few changes. Instead of cutting-up a whole chicken (which I hate) I bought half thighs and half drumsticks. My boys prefer the drumsticks while my husband and I are bigger fans of thighs. The recipe uses 1/2 pound of snap peas, but I chose to use closer to a pound since my boys love them so much. Finally, the recipe states that it takes 8-10 minutes to brown the chicken. I used a stainless steal pan and it normally takes around 15-20 minutes to get a nice crispy skin. If you use a non-stick pan to brown your chicken I would suggest changing this method. In order to get beautiful crisp chicken skin you must use a regular pan. Non-stick pans are great for some things, but browning chicken is non one of them. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys really enjoyed this recipe. I wouldn't say that it has an intense flavor. The flavor from the basil in subtle, but when combined with the vinegar it works well. The chicken came out moist and not overdone. If you like more kick I would suggest adding additional red-pepper flakes up to a full teaspoon.

For the recipe go to Chicken and Snap Peas.

$4 Spaghetti That's Almost as Good as $24 Spaghetti

My family has a slight pasta obsession. Not just a little bit, but my two boys are currently refusing 99 percent of all food, with the exception of pasta. They love pasta and would eat it three times of day if given the option. Since my husband isn't currently eating pasta I have had free rein to make any type of pasta that I chose. While I love pasta, I really love homemade pasta sauce and meatballs. Growing up my mother's idea of homemade pasta sauce was to add vegetables to jarred sauce. Granted it never tasted bad and I loved it. That is until I realized that homemade pasta sauce is no comparison. It is so much better! Last week I tried a new recipe for $4 Spaghetti That's Almost as Good as $24 Spaghetti from the August issue of Food and Wine magazine, which looked simple and delicious.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 3 hours of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 4 to 6 servings. I did make a few modifications to the recipe. I think I maybe one of the only food bloggers on the internet that does not own an immersion blender. Everyone I know keeps telling me that I have to buy one and that I will love it. However, I have stubbornly stuck to my blender. For this recipe I poured the tomatoes, garlic, oil and mushroom broth into the blender and pureed until smooth. Then I added it back into the pan and followed the remainder of the recipe as written. I did leave out the torn basil leaves due to the fact that I completely forget to buy them at the grocery store (opps).

My family was very impressed by this recipe. The flavor from the garlic oil and mushroom broth made for a great tasting sauce and my husband thought this maybe one of the best pasta recipes he has ever eaten. The mushroom broth creates a great undertone to the sauce and makes a delicious taste combination. I made veal meatballs to go with this pasta recipe and the combination was perfect. A great recipe that I will definitely make again.

For the recipe go to $4 Spaghetti.

Pesto Calabrese

This has been a long week, sorry for the lack of posts. I promise I will be back to regular blogging next week. So without further ado, pesto. Growing up there was one food that my mother absolutely adored, eggplant. My father and I however, we not fans in the least. I would literally groan with my mother would come in from the farmer's market with a big bag full of eggplant. She was a good sport and tried recipe after recipe to no avail. When I was in college I survived on coffee and pancakes (really I did, it was cheap for a whole box and I paid my own way through school). I didn't think about or eat eggplant for many years after moving out of my parents house. Then I met my husband and wouldn't you know he loved eggplant as much as my mother had. So what to do. Well, I decided that instead of fighting against the eggplant I would surrender. That didn't mean that I wouldn't find some great recipes to try and hope that maybe, just maybe eggplant could be redeemed. It turned out that as an adult I love eggplant, when cooked the right way. One of the ways that I have found that my whole family loves eggplant is in pasta, so I was quick to want to try the new Pesto Calabrese recipe in a recent issue of Saveur magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes to prep and cook and makes 1 1/2 cups of pesto. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients and made no ingredient modifications. My onions took slightly longer than the 10 minutes suggested by the recipe. I really don't watch the clock when caramelizing onions, I just watch until they are adequately browned. After all the ingredients were combined I cooked them an additional couple of minutes to ensure all the flavor was released. Most important of all make sure to salt. This pesto requires a decent amount of salt in the finished dish, so don't be afraid of the salt shaker. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I like the idea of this dish. Eggplant is delicious in pasta dishes, but this pesto needs a few changes. I found the pesto to be to sweet with not enough flavor to compensate for the sweetness. I would suggest adding crushed red pepper flakes. This would give the pesto a much needed kick and the amount can be adjusted to suit your tastes. Alternatively chili oil might also work if you have it. With the addition of a little heat I think this pesto would be a great way to use eggplant.

For the recipe go to Pesto Calabrese.

Spinach-Herb Pesto

This is the time of the year that there never seems to be enough time. Between end of the year school madness, t-ball, birthdays, holidays etc. I always seem to be behind. I would love to say that I have hours everyday to prepare complex great tasting meals, but the reality is that I don't. There are nights that I can spare a couple of hours to prepare dinner, those are the nights that my three-year-old actually decides to take his afternoon nap. I love those naps when they happen, I am able to get so many things done! However, the majority of the time my youngest refuses to nap and my days are hectic at best. So to the rescue comes my trusted menu plan. Each week I have at least two very easy recipes that takes less than a half an hour to make start to finish. One such recipe from the March issue of Southern Living magazine is for Spinach-Herb Pesto and takes a total of 15 minutes and is full of fresh vegetables.

This recipe 10 ingredients. It takes 15 minutes, all of which is active and makes 3/4 of a cup of pesto. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no ingredient modifications. There is no need to overly chop the herbs and veggies before placing them in the food processor, the machine does a great job on its own. I would recommend using a food scale and measuring 2 ounces for the cheese, 2 ounces was a lot more than a 1/2 cup according to my measuring cups. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Pesto is one of my favorite dishes and this recipe turned out very well. The lemon flavor compliments the herbs and spinach nicely and the overall taste was delicious Both of my children ate their servings happily and had no idea that they were eating spinach instead of regular pasta. An easy way to add more spinach and herbs to your dinner table.

For the recipe go to Spinach-Herb Pesto.

Rao's Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce

There is something about homemade pasta sauce that brings a smile to my face. It's not hard to make, but it can take a bad day and make it into something warm and memorable. I remember growing-up that my mom kept an herb garden and I would wait impatiently every year for the basil to be ready to eat indicating that pasta sauce was in my future. I loved watching the sauce boil on the stove and the smell of the garlic and herbs simmering, yum! I'll admit that when I moved out on my own in college I became lazy. I am going to share something that I am embarrassed to confess. The last two years of college I would buy a jar of Alfredo sauce and a box of spaghetti, cook them and eat that for diner for the entire week. Now granted I was a marathon runner and could easily burn off the carbs, but as I look back on the memory and cringe. I don't think I have eaten jarred Alfredo sauce since I was 23 and it is probably largely due to this habit. After getting married I decided that I was going to start making pasta sauce from scratch again. It took me some fails, but eventually I learned to make delicious sauce and I rarely if ever buy the jarred variety anymore. However, my husband has fallen in love with the Rao's pasta sauce that he bought at the store last year. I will agree that for a jarred sauce it is pretty delicious, so I was very excited when Saveur Magazine had a recipe for Rao's Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce in a recent issue.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes approximately an hour and 20 minutes of prep and cooking time and makes 4-6 servings. All the ingredients are basic and I had no problems finding them at my local grocery store. For the bacon I chose to use thick-cut bacon. I started using this variety about a year ago and I love it, I cook with it now pretty much exclusively. For the onion I used sweet onions, when they are in season (such as now) I use them frequently. After starting this recipe I discovered that I had ran out of oregano, so I substituted a teaspoon of Italian seasoning instead. I followed the remainder of the recipe as stated.

My family was very impressed with this recipe. This is more than likely the best magazine recipe for pasta sauce that I have tried. The flavor from the bacon was delicious and the taste of the tomatoes wasn't over powered by too much meat or spice. Best of all it doesn't take all day on the stove to create a great pasta sauce that I would be more than willing to serve to company. The recipe made more than enough for my family of four for dinner plus leftovers for everyone the next day. This will definitely be a recipe that I will be making again (soon).

For the recipe go to Rao's Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce.

Spaghetti with Spicy Tuna Marinara Sauce

Growing up I loved tuna melts. I thought they were one of the best foods on earth. To me there was nothing better than my mom's homemade tuna melts. As you can imagine we had a lot of canned tuna growing-up. Both of my parents worked very hard, but living in an expensive city and only having a high-school diploma made money very tight. Luckily for my mom I loved inexpensive food and my mother was a great cook. She could take something from a can and make into something spectacular. It was these early food experiences that made me into the cook that I am today. I learned quickly that just because you have only a handful of ingredients doesn't mean that you can't make something fantastic. My two kids have grown-up in very different circumstances. Both my husband and I have masters degrees and fresh food has always been in abundance. However, I am still my mother's daughter and I am frugal to the core. I love making complex expensive meals, but I leave them to the holidays and special occasions. My kids are growing up understanding that just because you can spend a lot of money on something doesn't mean you should. The same goes for the food we eat and serve. I love cooking from scratch, but I also understand and appreciate that canned food can be both convenient and nutritious when used correctly. Recently, the May issue of the Food Network Magazine had a recipe for Spaghetti with Spicy Tuna Marinara Sauce, which looked like a simple combination of fresh ingredients paired with canned tuna.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did have to make a  recipe modification due to a lack of available ingredients. Finding plum tomatoes around here can be hit or miss so I bought roma tomatoes instead. I had no problems finding any of the other ingredients at my local grocery store. After the pasta was added to the sauce I felt that it needed to be cooked down more than the recipe suggested. I allowed the pasta sauce to cook until the sauce completely coated the pasta. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys loved this recipe. I was pleased with how the tuna didn't end up tasting fishy even though it came from a can. The leftovers heated up great the next day and the flavor was even better. I appreciated that the recipe only took thirty minutes start to finish. Plus, with the main meat being canned tuna the total price for the recipe was very low, which always helps my family budget. Overall, a very easy pasta recipe combining both fresh and canned ingredients.

For the recipe go to Spaghetti with Spicy Tuna Marinara Sauce.

Saveur Spaghetti and Meatballs

I love spaghetti and meatballs. There are few foods as comforting as a huge plate of homemade spaghetti and sauce. I have nothing against jarred pasta sauce, but it can't hold a candle to day long simmered homemade. Especially in the summer when tomatoes are fresh homemade sauce is delicious from the first to the last bite. Growing up my mother was the queen of doctoring up store bought sauces. She would add onion, basil, and oregano and serve it as homemade. In every other way my mother was a fabulous cook, but pasta sauce was never her strong suit. Luckily I was able to learn to create great tasting pasta sauce from friends and family that I still use as base for my homemade sauce to this day. Always up to trying new things, I was interested when a recent issue of Saveur Magazine had a recipe for Spaghetti and Meatballs combining three types of meat.

This recipe has 19 ingredients. It takes approximately an hour and half to prep and cook and makes 8 servings. I made a few modifications to the recipe. First off I always grind my own meat, which I did with the pork and beef in this recipe. I would have loved to have ground my own veal, but my local stores only carry it pre-ground. Second I was unable to find provolone that wasn't sliced, so I actually had to shred my cheese using cheese slices, luckily it worked pretty well. The biggest changes I made the recipe were the size of the meatballs and the cooking time. To make 6 oz meatballs seemed extreme to me, especially when feeding two kids, so I made my meatballs substantially smaller. I also found that the liquid evaporated from my sauce very quickly, so make sure to watch the sauce so it doesn't get too dry.

The meatballs are the best part of this recipe. They were moist and had a great flavor. The sauce was a little too sweet, it would almost be better on a hoggie with the sauce and banana peppers. However. the meatballs are well worth the recipe and my family loved them. I would suggest adding an additional can of tomatoes to cut down on the sweetness and possibly crushed red pepper. Overall, a kid friendly recipe that still appeals to adults.

Saveur Pesto Focaccia

Bread is a popular stable in my house. Most weeks I make at least two loaves, sometimes more. Every couple of weeks I try to change up my normal bread routine and try something different such as scones or biscuits. A particular household favorite is focaccia. It takes longer than most breads to prepare and bake, but the end result is well worth the effort. Recently, Saveur magazine had a recipe for Pesto Focaccia using cherry tomatoes and kalamata olives, two foods my family loves.

This recipe has 8 ingredients for the pesto and 12 for the focaccia. It makes 12-14 servings and takes approximately 4 and a half hours to prepare and bake. There are a number of ingredients in this recipe, but I only had problems finding one, durum wheat flour. I looked at every store I could think of in my area to no avail, so I chose to leave it out. Instead of the durum wheat flour I used an additional cup of all-purpose flour, making 5 and a half cups of total flour. I noticed that the top of the focaccia cooked very quickly and I had to tent the top after approximately 10 minutes to prevent burning. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Over the last five years I have made a number of focaccia recipes, about one every month. I was intrigued by this recipe since it used mashed potatoes and lager beer in the focaccia dough, a combination I hadn't tried in previous recipes. The combination of the kalamata olives and cherry tomatoes worked well together and went great with the sun dried tomato pesto. Overall, a recipe well worth the time involved and filling enough for a main dish or side.

For the recipe go to Pesto Focaccia.

Everday Food Corn and Zucchini Orzo Salad

Pasta is a stable in my household. I never have to worry about having too many leftovers that won't get eaten if a dish includes any type of pasta, someone in my house will eat it. My love of pasta goes back to my childhood. Growing up my family didn't have a lot of money, so pasta was a common meal. Luckily my mother was a very good cook and almost every meal she made was delicious. I especially loved pasta and she invented a recipe for Asian noodles, that to this day is one of the best dishes I have ever tasted. My two boys have inherited my love of all things pasta and literally cheer when they realize a pasta dish is for dinner. Recently, the September issue of Everyday Food magazine had a recipe for Corn and Zucchini Orzo Salad, which looked delicious and a great way to use pasta as a side dish.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. I makes 6 servings and takes a total of 35 minutes, all of which is active cooking time. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. Make sure to add lots of salt to the pasta water when cooking the orzo or the dish will be very under-salted. Even with the pasta water being adequately salted, I still had to add a decent amount of salt to bring out the full flavor of the zucchini and fresh corn. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

If your trying to feed a crowd this is a great recipe. The recipe states that this makes 6 servings, but they would be 6 very large servings. I would say that this salad could easily serve 12 or more people. This dish was light and delicious the day it was made, but was even better tasting after it had sat in the fridge overnight and soaked up all the flavors from the dressing. I didn't feel that the taste of the jalapeno was very apparent. I would suggest either adding another seeded jalapeno, or if you enjoy spicy dishes, keeping the seeds in for extra flavor. Overall, a light vegetable and pasta salad, that makes enough leftovers for another meal. 

For the recipe go to Corn and Zucchini Orzo Salad.