Chicken and Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

 I love pasta dishes.  Something just hearty and soul warming about them and this week, I was feeling pasta-ish!  The cayenne pepper in this one puts a whole other meaning to soul-warming too!  Measure down if you aren't up for spicey.  Little one and I had Grandpa over for this family dinner meal and Grandpa's poor lips were on fire he said.  This coming from someone that doesn't touch mexican food and thinks Big Red gum is "too spicey to enjoy".  Not too credible if you ask me.  We love him, but he's a little tender in the taste buds.

The Official Spring/Summer 2011 Drink of Choice and Pea Nutty Noddles

Growing up, there were two drinks I loved and begged my mom to give me...a Shirley Temple and a half lemonade/half iced tea.  Shirley Temples, with 5 maraschino cherries please, are versatile and can easily be consumed during the winter holidays.  Little ol' Shirl can make any occasion feel fancy.  I only really remember consuming the half and half (now known as an Arnold Palmer) during the summer.  They were the pool-side/court-side/porch-side drink of choice for me. Beyond the half and half, summers also meant long days at the pool, honeysuckle, lightening bugs, later bedtimes, avocados, shrimp cocktails, bike rides, hammock time and night drives in my parents old convertible fiat. Summers were fun and free.

We are in the middle of spring here.  Days are getting longer.  There is a 10 inch thick blanket of pollen on just about every exposed surface.  I even saw my first mosquito yesterday. Everything is in full bloom.   

Summer is right around the corner.  I can feel it.  I don't want to rush anything and I definitely am not ready to let go of 50 degree nights, but this grown up version of the half and half might just push me there.  I am officially announcing it as the 2011 Summer Drink of Choice for this household.  It is really freaking incredible.  I made it for the first time the other weekend when we had some friends for brunch and have made it three times since. Introducing ginger-tea lemonade with basil and a sneak peak at the dinner for this Tuesday Night Swap.

I realize this picture doesn't quite display the iced tea in all of her deliciousness.  Please note adorable boy in background playing with trucks and Easter eggs.

"I Love" Chicken Schnitzle

This has been a good week.  Lizzie is showing progress on the potty, her big girl underwear came in the mail (they are Adorable on!)  and we've had lots of rain - to wash away all this nasty overwhelming yellow pollen!  Also, I've been working hard to be consciously grateful for all things I love thanks to an inspiring book my Aunt Laney gave me called "The Secret the Power" by Rhonda Byrne.  There are lots of lessons to be taken from this book, but this is just one I'm concentrating on now.  And I'm happy to report, it does make one more happy feeling to accentuate the positive (Johhnny Mercer was on to something) and be consciously grateful of people/sitatuions/events/things you encounter daily.  It is challenging, to be conscious of your thoughts and steer them into positive directions when they tend to linger (more like lurk) towards the negative.  Its only human nature, but we do need to take control more often than not.
Anyway - with the help of my new read, I'm working to mentally acknowledge things that I love and make this a daily practice.  My sweet lizzie and my amazingly helpful husband who is so tender and loving with our little girl and with me - are at the top of my list among some very trivial things like "icecream..... anytime" and "stormy nights which lead to excellent slumber".

Soy Good Salmon with Edamame Succotash

I received a great package in the mail a couple of months ago.  This was the best kind - packed with books and sent with love from one of my favorite friends.  Nestled amidst the great new reads for Jude was Laurie David's, The Family Dinner.  David is a huge environmentalist and was a producer behind An Inconvenient Truth.  Her work is impressive to say the least.  I respect her passion for the environment and was curious how it would translate to a cookbook.  The recipes, I discovered, are written by Kirstin Uhrenholdt who at one point worked for the Davids.

After setting up Jude with his new reading material, I began to leaf through my new treat.   Wow!  This is a great book.  I guess it is technically considered a cookbook, but it is so much more than that.  David weaves together recipes, conversation starters, gorgeous photos, post-dinner games and interviews of interesting people (Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, Jamie Oliver, etc) about their experiences with family dinners.  It is the kind of book you want to keep picking up for inspiration.  I have especially enjoyed the section on table talk.  She encourages bringing books, poetry and newspapers to the table to stimulate conversation and offers loads of suggestions for questions to get everyone talking and sharing and having a good time.  Patrick, Jude and I sit down together for most breakfasts and dinners and I have this lofty notion that this is where we will share the most important details of our days/hearts with one another.  I can't wait for the day when our conversations evolve beyond big trucks dumping dirt and blowing bubbles.  Don't get me wrong, I am thoroughly enjoying this stage with Jude, but I can't wait to really, really see what he has to say and offer to this world.

I decided to try out The Family Dinner's Soy Good Maple Salmon with Edamame Succotash for this week's swap.

Photo taken from  The Family Dinner website 

Another recipe with Ketchup?!? Turkey Meatloaf!

Here I sit, with my cream cheese bagel and lemon water, typing my post much sooner than I got the last post out and might I mention......I'm doing this post amazing and much needed yoga session with my dear friend Joan.  I hestitated leaving the house with Lizzie since we are on our 5th day on the Potty Train

* note the very proud pottier with her potty stickers and FIRST EVER marshmellow PEEP! 

not to mention the dark dreary day it is, but I (and baby) needed this time for our bodies....and Lizzie needed a little outing.  Also, Lizzie had what I politely call, potty success, before we left the house so I was feeling confident on the way out of the door and as expected......amazing on the way back in.  Win-Win.  I've digressed, so let me get back to our dinner from Tuesday night. 

Asparagus and Roasted Tomato Quiche

I am a week late in writing this post and am suffering from a serious case of spring fever.  I am going to make this short and sweet.  I like quiche.  I like it for dinner with a green salad.  I like it for lunch with a glass of tea.  I like to eat it on the back deck when the sun is out.  I like quiche.

I do quiche the easy way.  I buy a pie shell (gasp) and I oftentimes buy roasted veggies to fill it with (double gasp).  Yes, I am a culinary short-cutter at times.  I am not ashamed. To me, quiche should be an easy meal.  One that can be made quickly and enjoyed without feeling tired from a kitchen fuss.  Quiches are great for a meal swap because a) pie shells are typically sold in twos and b) two can be assembled just as easily as one. I know I am boldly stating the obvious here, but sometimes these things elude me and I kick myself every time I dig up a solo frost bitten pie shell in the freezer.  Would be so much nicer to reach in and find a bottle of cold gin an already made quiche for dinner instead.  Anyhoo...here is the recipe.  It is a mash up of different quiche recipes I found online.  I like the replacement of cottage cheese for the typical cream and other dairys.  I feel like I am getting some extra protein, but be careful with how much salt you add to the recipe when tweaking.  The quiches can me made ahead of time and reheated at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

Manicotti, Mani-got......PotAtoes, po-tatoes

Sorry for this VERY late posting.  I've gotten caught up in spring fever, all things homeschooling and most importantly....DESSERTS.  Not sure what has gotten into me.....ok, maybe I do know what is IN me, but this resulting sweet tooth has got me hankering to bake!  I've spent a lot of free time the past two weeks doing just that.  Strawberries are popping up in the stores and I love to serve strawberries over panna cotta - so check, that's one I've made, actually not once, but twice.  And, One Hungry Mama posted a tempting Nutella Brownie Bites recipe that I just had to try - easy and delicious - best a day later as the brownies were a little crumbly fresh out of the oven.  But they set up better after a days rest.  And, lets not forget the Banana Pudding.  No crazy fancy recipe for this chica - just Jello brand vanilla pudding, wafers and bananas.  Yummo - gotta love the soggy wafers!  And while we are talking desserts, I might as well tell ya what desserts are planned for the future because yes-um, I have future desserts planned....a dessert wish list of sorts.  To be served for afternoon snack on St. Patty's Day - I have a Shamrock Shake up my sleeve from one of my favorite bloggers, The Naptime Chef.