Tip of the Week: You'll have the cleanest baking dishes on the block!

Tired of looking at baked-on grease spots? Do you think you just have to live with them? Or do what Marybeth's mother did ... wait till no one's around, put them in a brown paper bag, go out to the garage ... and put them in the trash can?! What if we told you those spots can be wiped away ... with a little elbow grease. All you have to do if you want to make your Pyrex glass pans and your white Corning Ware pans look good as new is make a paste of baking soda and a little water. The baking soda will remove the baked-on, black and brown grease spots.

Sounds of Italy

From opera to classical, regional folk to popular music, the range of the Italians is limitless! (if it doesn't exist - they develop it, i.e. opera, symphony, and concerto.) Instrumental and vocal classical music is an iconic part of the Italian identity and as such should be heard throughout any dinner with ties to "the boot"!

Here are a few of our favorites:

O Solo Mio by Tony Dino
From the Album: Tony Dino Sings Italian

Nessun dorma by Luciano Pavarotti;Gianfranco Masini
From the Album: Puccini's Greatest Hit - The Ultimate Nessun Dorma

L'arlesiana / Act 2 - E la solita storia by José Carreras
From the Album: Masters of the Voice - Tenor

Torna a Surriento by Luciano Pavarotti
From the Album: The Three Tenors - In Concert - Rome 1990

Un Cuore Solo (Two Have But One Heart) by Tomasa Giovanni
From the Album: Mama Mia - Italian Folk Songs

Bella Notte by Bill Thompson
From the Album: Lady and The Tramp and Friends (who doesn't like this Disney classic)

Waltz of Love by Angelo Di Pippo
From the Album: Waltz Across The World

La Mattinata by Tomasa Giovanni
From the Album: Mama Mia - Italian Folk Songs

Santa Lucia by Tomasa Giovanni
From the Album: Mama Mia - Italian Folk Songs

Italian Festa by Richard Hayman & The Manhattan Pops
From the Album: Italy - The Pride and Passion

Funiculi, Funicula by Richard Hayman & The Manhattan Pops
From the Album: Italy - The Pride and Passion

La Donna è Mobile by Three Mo' Tenors
From the Album: Three Mo' Tenors

What are your favorite Italian songs?

Itailian Lite

For a more healthy version of yesterday's menu try substituing the pasta for whole wheat angel hair pasta, as seen here:

(Although we don't reccomend the serving size)

I've also used 1/2 a stick of butter before and it tastes the same just a little less creamy. I also tend to use chicken tenders instead of whole chicken breasts.

You can also skip the butter and the cheese on the asparagus, if you must.

Now that we've got the obligatory "please eat healthy" stuff out of the way on to the decorating for an extra special, dare we say educational dining experience.

First lay a red table cloth on your table, then white placemats (no worries, there's no red sauce, remember) and green plates. Oh look, the Italian flag! (sort of). For the centerpiece a multi photo holder like this one filled with your favorite Italian images from the internet. Venice or Rome, Art or Architecture, the Alps or the Beach, maps or the flag, even random cultural facts. There is nothing wrong with giving your children a cultural lesson with dinner, and a very cheap tour when the expenses just don't line up to visit all the places you'd like to!

Italia

Italy - Home of olive oil and pasta, wine and gelato, ruins and renaissance masterpieces. We could spend years going into the culinary offerings of the Italians (but that, my friends, is for another post ... or 50) The traditional Itailian dinner consists of the antipasto (appetizer), a pasta dish, a meat/fish dish, salad, cheese, and fruit and takes hours to eat as they relax and sip wine with each course. We've prepared a menu a little different considering we don't usually spend more than 30 minutes at the dinner table: Lemon Parmesan Chicken, Asparagus Parmesan, bread sticks, paired with a nice white grape juice (hey we don't drink so if you want a wine suggestion you'll have to consult someone else). For dessert: Gelato or Italian Lemon Creme Cake.

Lemon Parmesan Chicken

Ingredients
Chicken:
6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3 eggs
2 cups grated parmesan-romano cheese* (I use the pre-grated 3 Italian cheese mix)
2 1/2 cups Italian seasoned fine dry bread crumbs*
2 lemons, zested, then juiced
2 tbsp. olive oil
Pasta:
1 stick butter
1 16 oz. box penne pasta
1 tsp. salt
1 tbl. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
3 tbsp. fresh chopped basil
1 tbsp. thyme leaves
4 cloves garlic, chopped

Directions
Prepare three bowls large enough so you can bread chicken breasts. Add eggs and lemon juice to one of the bowls. Whisk. Add cheese and lemon zest to another bowl. Mix. Add bread crumbs to the last bowl. Take a chicken breast and dip it the egg mixture, cheese mixture then bread crumbs. Place on a plate. Preheat oven to 375. Heat nonstick skillet to medium heat. Add 1 tbsp. of the olive oil. Cook 3 chicken breasts at a time, adding the second tablespoon oil for the remaining 3. Brown on each side for 2 minutes, then place in baking pan. Bake chicken breasts for 30 minutes. Bring large pot of water to boil. Add remaining olive oil, pasta and salt. Boil for as long as on box. Drain. Add stick of butter and garlic; let butter melt. Add parsley, thyme and basil. Cover and set aside, if necessary, until chicken is done.

*I usually don't measure these ingredients and just pour them out as needed a paper plate to not waste them.

Asparagus Parmesan

Ingredients:
4 tbsp melted butter
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 lbs asparagus
1 cup grated Ramano cheese
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450d. wash each stalk of asparagus well and snap off the bottom part of the stalk. Steam upper tender shoots for 5 minutes, or until nearly done. test with a fork.

Pour butter and oil into a casserole dish and lay asparagus on top. Sprinkle with cheese and salt and pepper.

Bake uncovered for about 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve hot, sprinkled with lemon juice.

Bread stick (Olive Garden Style)
1 1/3 cups of water
4 tsp soft butter
4 cups of flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast


Combine the ingredients in mixer andl mixed throughly. Roll out bread stick shapes. Cover and let rise for 45 min. Brush butter on tops (saving some butter for later) and sprinkle with Kosher salt. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Brush with butter again and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of garlic salt.

Gelato
Buy at your local gourmet grocery store.

Italian Lemon Creme Cake (from "mecookin"-Home Talk Entertainment Forums)
FOR THE CAKE:
1 18.25-ounce box Betty Crocker white cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 egg whites
I added 1 tsp. lemon zest to the cake.
FOR THE LEMON CREAM FILLING:
1 (8 ounce) pkg cream cheese, softened (could use mascarpone instead of cream cheese)
2 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoon lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
FOR THE VANILLA CRUMB TOPPING:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cold butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
FOR THE GARNISH:
powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch cake pan or springform pan
Make white cake following the directions on the box. Pour the batter into prepared pan.Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Allow cake to cool completely when it comes out of the oven.
Make lemon cream filling by mixing cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in lemon juice.
Whip cream in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until it forms stiff peaks. Combine cream cheese mixture with whipped cream. Stir by hand until blended.
Make crumb topping by combining flour and powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Add butter and dribble in the vanilla extract. Use your hands to mix cold butter into the flour and sugar. Break butter into smaller and smaller pieces as you incorporate it into the dry ingredients. Be sure not to press the mixture together. You want to end up with a very crumbly consistency with pieces no bigger than a pea. (If you have trouble making small crumbs, pop the bowl into your fridge for a few minutes.) Chill this crumb topping until you are ready to use it.
When the cake is cool, slice it in half through the middle and remove the top. Spread all but 1/2 cup of the lemon cream mixture onto the bottom half of the cake, then carefully replace the top half of the cake.
Spread the remaining 1/2 cup of cream filling over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle the crumb topping on top of the cake and press it onto the sides all the way around the cake.
Now chill the cake for at least 3 hours before you serve it. When you are ready to dig in, slice the cake into 12 slices. Serve each slice topped with powdered sugar tapped through a strainer.
Servings: 12

 
Enjoy!

Tip of the Week: Getting more pleasure from the Mini-Dessert

We've all done it ... said we'll just have one scoop of ice cream, one sliver of pie, or one tiny piece of cake; and been left completely unsatisfied when it is gone in 2 bites! And then taken  just one more scoop, sliver, piece. Or we've looked in the bowl when scooping the ice cream and thought that one scoop looked lonely so we have to add another.

What's a person to do? Smaller bowls help with the ice cream looking lonely but still it's gone in a jiffy and leaves you wanting more. The solution is as close as the nearest baby aisle, (yes, you read that right, the baby aisle)  more specifically a baby spoon! With an adult spoon taking small bites and prolonging the sweet experience is sometimes difficult. The forced smaller bites of the baby spoon make for extended eating pleasure, thus a more satisfied feeling when limiting your dessert intake.

Morning Music

When contemplating what to play along with our breakfast - I mean dinner - I realized what could go better then saturday morning cartoons! Now if your kids are like me playing a dvd of cartoons in the background is not a good idea, you'll never be able to pull their eyes away from the tv long enough to engaged them in a debate as to which cartoon is better (by the way Scooby's the best followed closely by the Smurfs! - do your kids even know about the Smurfs?) So instead compile a playlist of cartoon soundtracks.

Here's a few to get you started:

Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits
The Carl Stalling Project: Music From Warner Bros. Cartoons, 1936-1958
Saturday Morning Cartoon Favorites
Smurfs
Scooby Doo

Animaniacs (Wakko's America) (Animaniacs Wacky Universe)

Looney Tunes (The Best of All the Looney Tunes)

We have a Confession...

Marybeth and I (Sandy) are on diets. Apparently suppressing our sweet tooths have caused us to write about the yummy goodness we wish we could have. We apologize to all our fellow dieters. To make it up to you we have decided to make Tuesdays "Healthy Tuesday" and provide healthier alternatives to the guilty pleasures of Monday. Enjoy :)

Whole Wheat Waffles
 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs, yolks and egg whites separated
1/3 cup melted butter (or use Canola oil)

Mix and sift dry ingredients. Add milk and beaten egg yolks to dry ingredients. Mix well. Add melted butter (or Canola oil) and fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

Breakfast for Dinner!

My neighbors would never but our family happily had it at least once a month! My husband thinks it's kind of like eating donuts for dinner and he didn't get into it that much until we'd been married for several years. He probably accepted I would never change. Why not have an evening when you relax and don't take dinner quite so seriously? If you consider you'll get all your nutrition in over the week, then one night of breakfast for dinner is not a big deal at all and the kids love it.


French toast, waffles, or pancakes served with some bacon and eggs. What could be better than that? You could throw in some sliced fruit just to feel better or even make your own fruit topping by boiling the fruit on the stove with a little water, lemon juice and sugar. I'll share a recipe with you below.

We discovered we love spreading cream cheese on bread and then putting two slices together before dipping in batter for stuffed French toast. Do you really need a recipe for that? If so, just make Bisquick pancake batter thinner than you would for pancakes. Dip your bread in that to make French toast and cook on a lightly oiled skillet or griddle. Some of the family like sliced bananas along with the cream cheese in between their French toast slices.

I bet if you tell the fam you're having breakfast for dinner, they'll rearrange their plans just to be home with you!

Tonight's feature: Waffles! Regular or Belgian, you're sure to draw a crowd with waffles. Just have plenty of syrup, powdered sugar, hot fruit sauce, and whipped cream on hand. Your dreams will be sweeter after you've had waffles for dinner!


Waffles: (from AllRecipes.com)

2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat waffle iron. Beat eggs in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy. Beat in flour, milk, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla, just until smooth.

Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.

This recipe will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Belgian Waffles: (from AllRecipes.com)

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 egg yolks
2 3/4 cups warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 egg whites

Directions

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm milk. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 1/4 cup of the warm milk and the melted butter. Stir in the yeast mixture, sugar, salt and vanilla. Stir in the remaining 2 1/2 cups milk alternately with the flour, ending with the flour. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks; fold into the batter. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Preheat the waffle iron. Brush with oil and spoon about 1/2 cup (or as recommended by manufacturer) onto center of iron. Close the lid and bake until it stops steaming and the waffle is golden brown. Serve immediately or keep warm in 200 degree oven.

Blueberry Sauce*

2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. water
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/8 tsp. salt
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

In a saucepan, blend the cornstarch and 1 tbsp. water.

Add sugar, salt, and remaining water.

Cook over low heat until clear and slightly thickened, stirring constantly.

Add blueberries and boil for two or three minutes.

May be used hot or cold. Just think of the possibilities . . . pancakes, waffles, French toast, . . . ice cream!
*You could make strawberry, peach, or apricot sauce just as easily.

Tip of the Week: Fancy and Fun with Glasses

 Whether I’m eating a gourmet meal on bone china or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a paper plate, it’s what I’m drinking out of that makes me feel as if I’m eating a feast fit for a queen. I have two types of glasses that I typically use: for everyday special occasions, my goblet – breakfast, lunch or dinner – it doesn’t matter, I use it all day, everyday. Unless I’m in a more playful mood then I break out my tall bar glass! For those with kids try plastic goblets they’re just as effective in making a meal special, I remember growing up we had yellow plastic goblets that would make an appearance every once in a while. My favorite was when we were having waffles for dinner and we drank orange juice slushies out of them.

Summer Serenade

When I think of summer I think of nights on the patio or laying in the backyard watching the stars appear (or the plane lights now that I live in the city) with an oldies station playing softly on the radio, joined, of course, by a choir of cicadas!
Here are a few of my favorite summertime songs:

Theme from "A Summer Place" Percy Faith aand His Orchestra
Peaceful Easy Feeling Eagles
Here Comes the Sun The Beattles
I Can See Clearly Now Johnny Nash
Don't Worry Baby The Beach Boys
California Girls The Beach Boys
Your Summer Dream The Beach Boys
Walking on the Beach Summer Music Songs
Soak up the Sun Cheryl Crow
Summer Song Louis Armstrong
In the Summertime Pigeon
Girls on the Beach The Beach Boys
Summer Song Leddra Chapman
What music reminds you of summer?
Sandy

Easy Livin' on a Summer Night

When I was a little girl, we kids used to get pretty lazy in the mornings.  We'd watch Hogan's Heros and I Love Lucy reruns followed by the Price Is Right!  My mom would clap her hands and say, "Now kids!  Go get dresssed!  Let's start the day!"  She'd load us into the Cadillac--all our friends--before seatbelts--and take us down to the beach where we'd spend a perfectly lovely day being "productive" since, after all, this is summer.  Dinners were pretty simple as they have been with my girls during the summer. 

Marybeth

This week's family dinner highlight:   Slip 'N Sliders, Baked Sweet Potato Chips, Strawberries with Basil and Balsamic Vinegar, and, for the ever-present dessert . . . Pudding at the Beach.

Slip 'N Sliders


Ingrediants:
12 oz. ground sirloin
1 (4 oz.) link Italian sausage casing removed
1 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
Cooking spray
16 (0.4 oz.) dinner rolls
4 slices reduced-fat sharp cheese (Cheddar) quartered
3 Tbsp. ketchup
16 dill pickle slices
16 baby spinach leaves

Directions
1. Preheat broiler
2. Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl. Divide the mixture into 16 equal portions; flatten each into a 2-inch-wide patty. Place patties on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil in upper 1/3 of oven 3 minutes on each side or until done.
3. Cut buns in half horizontally; place rolls, cut side up on bottom oven rack. Top each patty with cheese. Let rolls and patties stand in oven 1 minute or until cheese melts.
4. Top bottom half of each roll with patty, about 1/2 tsp. ketchup, 1 pickle, 1 spinach leaf, and top with half of roll.

Baked Sweet Potato Chips

2 lb. yam or sweet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced 1/8 inch thick
4 tbsp. canola oil
Salt to taste

Place the sliced potatoes in a bowl. Sprinkle with oil and mix thoroughly. Spread the potatoes in a single layer on a non-stick baking sheet and sprinkle with vegetable seasoning. Bake in preheated 450 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until nicely browned.

Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar & Basil


Prep time: 10 minutes
Rest time: at least 30 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 quarts strawberries, sliced
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1-2 tbsp fresh basil leaves, chiffonade (rolled across to look like cigars and thinly sliced)

Directions:
1. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, toss and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Pudding at the Beach
1 pkg. Vanilla Pudding
Nilla Wafers
Fruit Leather
Teddy Grahams
Umbrella for embelishment

1) Place pudding in individual serving bowls.
2) Sprinkle sand (crushed Nilla Wafers) over each bowl.
3) Lay fruit leather towel and sun bathing Teddy Grahams over sand.
4) Place umbrella.

Stay tuned for our "Easy Livin'" Playlist