Winter Chopped Salad

This salad is SO delicious! I just made it up & the dressing. The dressing is my favorite part. Yum!

SALAD
Romaine Lettuce
Handful of Walnut pieces (or chop up whole ones)
1/2 small Gala apple, diced
1 individual portion of fresh goat cheese (@ Trader Joes) - roughly 1 heaping T.
*optional: Add grilled chicken

Mustard Vinaigrette Dressing - individual serving
1 T of Trader Joes "Hot & Sweet Mustard" (divine!)
1 T red wine vinegar
1-2T olive oil (just use your regular ratios for vinaigrette)
Dash of sugar
Salt & Pepper
*Mix together then pour over salad.

Directions:
Mix salad & dressing together while chopping! Viola!
{Picture is before I chopped & mixed}

I'm back

Sorry, it's been over 6 months! I'm back. I've been busy trying new restaurants, new recipes, entertaining friends & family from all over San Diego, LA, Seattle & Madrid. My favorite thing to do. I promise I'll post more soon. Until then, enjoy the two new posts today. Have a great week!

Grandma Tootie's Famous Waffles

My grandma Tootie was an amazing cook. She grew up on a farm so she cherished fresh food & cooked according to the seasons. She passed away a few weeks ago on her birthday. She celebrated her 88th birthday with Jesus, her mom & dad, sister & brother. I'm sure she made them waffles the next morning =)

During her final month, we had many fun conversations and sweet reminiscing. I asked her what was her favorite thing that her mom made. She said "Cakes! She made the best cakes." And my grandma made THE best waffles ever.

Here is her recipe. Passed down from our Swedish ancestors, generation to generation. And yes! I'm sharing it. I don't hide recipes, I share them! You know that. =)

I will tell you one of her baking secrets too. Always use fresh baking powder!

3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
2 cups buttermilk
1/3 C cup oil
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
1 Tbs sugar

Mix all ingredients. Beat egg whites (separate) and fold in (absolutely critical step for a light fluffy waffle).

Enjoy! She liked them with ligonberries or strawberries. How do you enjoy your waffles? Breakfast or dessert or both?

Lazaro Brohams

You can make these “slider style” too (just buy slider buns)perfect as an appetizer or served as the main course, especially good served with my brother's rockin' BBQ corn. {Will post soon}

Ingredients
Meat:
• Pork Shoulder
• 1T Apple Cider Vinegar
• Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce (or Bulls Eye) – small bottle
• Mini can of pineapple juice.
• BBQ seasoning of choice (Lawry’s is a good staple)
Directions:
1. Season pork on both sides, patting seasoning into meat.
2. Place pork shoulder & apple cider vinegar in slow cooker on “high” all day.
3. 2 hours before serving & when fully cooked: drain fat & most of the juice.
4. Meat should pull apart with a knife & fork. {If it doesn’t, it’s okay, it will in two more hours before serving.}
5. Add in entire bottle of BBQ sauce & pineapple juice. Mix.

Slaw:
• Bag of slaw (green & red cabbage w/ carrots) OR make your own
• 2 Stalks of celery, finely chopped
• 2 Green onions, finely chopped
• 2t of sugar, sprinkled
• 1 T lite mayonnaise (you can add more if you like it wet, I don’t)
• 2t of Dill
• Salt & Cracked pepper to taste
Directions
1. Mix all ingredients except mayonnaise & seasonings.
2. Add in mayonnaise. Mix again.
3. Add in spices. Mix again.
4. Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Food Critic = Food Critic

Have a picky eater in your home? I have a new solution! Start a fun family tradition. Whenever a "new" food is introduced have your children "review" it. You can even chime in.

1. Study the food's appearance (color, size, shape and creating a hypothesis of what it will taste like).

2. Take a bite and discuss the texture (mushy, solid, crunchy or smooth).

3. Take a 2nd bite and discuss taste (ban words like "yucky" "gross") Instead ask, is this food bitter, salty, spicy, sweet. "Which of your friends would like this food?"

4. Close eyes and give it a thumbs up or down (parents peek). If thumbs down, child doesn't have to eat it. Thumbs up equals a full serving.

Our family loves watching cooking & baking shows. Creating a "show" at home (like Bella & did with Iron Chef) is just another way to get our children to eat healthy foods and enjoy eating at home.

Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs & Stir Fry

Need dinner in 10 minutes (no joke!)? My daughter & I played "Iron Chef" and she timed me. We were both laughing so hard as I literally *threw* items into the wok. A fun memory and a delicious, low-fat & cal, high fiber & protein meal. What more could you ask for?

I grabbed 2 bags from the freezer & all my remaining fresh veggies. Guess what? The WHOLE family LOVED it!

Ingredients:
1 bag of Trader Joe's Turkey Meatballs
1 bag of Trader Joe's Pre-cooked Organic Brown Rice (organic is key, regular = disgusting)
1/2 bag of Trader Joe's broccoli Slaw
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 zucchini, finely chopped
1/2 container of crimini mushrooms
1 handful of mini carrots, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 handful of snap peas, sliced on diagonal
{remember: you can just use any hard vegetables left in your drawer, you don't have to use all of these or you could add more)
2 T peanut or vegetable oil (EVOO will NOT work with stir fry, gets too hot)

Sauce:
1/2 C (or more) Soyyaki sauce
2 T cornstarch
2 T honey

Directions:
1. Turn stove onto high heat (7 or 8); Add oil into Wok.
2. When oil is hot, stir in vegetables, salt & pepper to taste & cook until they begin to look transparent. Remove.
3. While vegetables are cooking, defrost meatballs for 2 minutes in microwave (entire bag).

4. Turn Wok heat to medium. Add in sauce & stir quickly, add in meatballs. Keep stirring. Don't let sauce burn. Coat meatballs in sauce until saturated and covered.
5. While meatballs are coating in sauce, put rice in microwave & cook.

6. Serve meatballs over rice, vegetables on the side or add on top of rice, then meatballs.

Enjoy!

Patatas a la Pobre

A typical Spanish tapa. An easy side dish that is loved by every guest of all ages.

Ingredients:
3-4 yellow potatoes (depending on how many people you want to feed, average 1.5 potatoes per person).
paprika
salt
EVOO

Directions:
1. Finely slice potatoes into rounds (about 1/16" thick)
2. Lay flat on a large cookie sheet
3. Coat both sides with EVOO, salt & paprika, mix them around if needed.
4. Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes (watch)
5. Some will be crisp as potato chips, others crisp and soft.

Serve as a Tapa with sauce (mayonnaise w/ a few dashes of hot sauce mixed in) OR as a side dish to any BBQ meal.

Slow Cooker BBQ Pork

Ingredients:
1 Pork Shoulder
1 bottle of Jack Daniels Original BBQ Sauce
1/2 C brown sugar
1 mini can of pineapple juice
2T of Worcestershire sauce (if you have it)

Directions
1. Put pork shoulder in slow cooker on high for 4-6 hours, until it almost falls off the bone.
2. Once it's completely cooked, skim off fat, remove bone and shred pork. {keep bone for the amazing bean soup recipe posted here}
3. Add in BBQ sauce, sugar & juice - stir. Cook for 1 hour longer (on high or low, depending on when you want to serve it).

Make into "Bro-hams" and serve on a bun with coleslaw, and "patatas a la pobre" {see recipe)

Easy coleslaw: Buy pre-shredded cabbage & mix in with Brianna's poppyseed dressing.

Burning Man Chicken Noodle Soup

Not sure about you, but when I got sick, my mom always made me chicken noodle soup. Guess what? Mom was right! http://www.unmc.edu/chickensoup/

I call this the "Burning Man Chicken Noodle Soup" because if you've ever watched the "Sam, the Cooking Guy" show, you've probably noticed that he burns himself ALL the time. Oscar started watching him a year ago and totally got me hooked. I love our mutual cooking hobby.

Ingredients
A whole chicken (skin + bones too) chopped up ($8 @ Trader Joes)
4 celery stalks chopped, angle
1/2 bag of mini carrots, chopped in 1/2 angled (or 2-3 large carrots)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
chicken stock (extra broth @ the end, if needed)
Egg Noodles - mini/thin or large - up to you
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Place chicken in the pot, cover with water so that there is 1" above the chicken.
2. Boil on high for 30 minutes, drain fat from top with a spoon (throw out)
3. Continue boil for 30 minutes.
4. Drain broth & chicken - save broth, set chicken on a cutting board. Remove skin & bones and chop chicken into large bit sizes (if needed), place into pot with broth.
5. Add vegetables into chicken & broth, cook another 30 minutes
6. Add in noodles, cook until done.

Enjoy!

Turkey Meatballs by M. Lazaro

Ingredients:
1lb of ground turkey
1/2 packet of Italian dressing mix
1 C of Italian bread crumbs
1 egg
1T olive oil

Directions:
1. Mix all together, except EVOO
2. Form into meatballs
3. Add EVOO into pan & brown meat balls on all sides
4. Place onto a baking sheet and cook @ 375 for 20-25 minutes (watch).

Serve alone w/ rice OR with your traditional spaghetti and Bolognese or Marinara sauce.

*This is a VERY easy recipe that your children will love to make "by themselves".