what i found in seattle last week:
dawn

as my sweet friend tracy told you, i was off cavorting in seattle, alaska and all points in between last week and while i was in seattle, i found this great egg cooker for the microwave. the microwave cooks eggs so fluffy, and this handy gadget makes it even more convenient. it's completely dishwasher safe, non-stick and you can eat right out of it if you're in a hurry.

add whatever you want (cheese, seasonings etc...). i scramble them right in the cooker but if you wanted it cooked other than scrambled, prick the egg yolk with a fork before nuking it.

my microwave only needs about 40 seconds to cook. i learned that after it accidentally exploded on my trial run.
eggsactly!

What I'm Cooking this Week: Monday Menu Musings for Back to School (sniff)

Tracy

This week calls for super-fast meals since back-to-school means we're back on a stricter bed-and-bathtime schedule (sniff). Since we normally walk in the door at around 5:45, these have to be REAL 30-minute meals so they can be down everyone's hatch by 6:45 and kidlets can hit the suds by 7 and be ready for bedtime stories by 8-ish. Oh, my, now I'm tired. Must get coffee. Anyway. Hopefully these ideas will fit the bill!

Monday - Oven-fried chicken tenders (from Barefoot Contessa's Family Style) - the picture shows kids being served the tenders on little skewers. I'm trying that tonight to test the theory that kids will, in fact, eat anything on a stick. We'll have them with honey-mustard on the side, along with mashed potatoes and green beans.

Tuesday - Leftover buffet - 1/2 leftover grilled pork loin from Saturday that I'll slice up with barbecue sauce, colesaw, Alexia oven fries

Wednesday- M. works late- -frozen ravioli with sauce, steamed broccoli

Thursday - sandwich night. Probably turkey paninis with pepper-jack cheese and chutney for us, grilled cheese for the kids. Veggies and dip on the side.

Friday - my dad comes into town. Probably hit a local seafood place or get take out.

BTW, Dawn--that egg thingy looks way too cool. Eggcelent, even! I could use something like that for quick back-to-school breakfasts since one of my vows for this school year is to step away from the Pop-Tarts. Are they available online?

i forgot to include that! yes you can get them at amazon.com. they're called (get this) the Micro Egg Microwave Egg Cooking Cup by Harold Import Co. i think that name is bigger than the cooker itself! they're only 7.50$ so you can get a couple of them! maybe even a dozen! enjoy!

what i will miss at summer's end 

dawn

the sweetest corn cut off the cob and cooked with vidalia onion and bacon
crape myrtles with their plume-like blooms
our last bag of coffee from cafe ladro's- seattle's best cup o' joe and our personal favorite

What I'm Cooking This Week

Tracy

A Week In Recovery. . . Life After the Beach Buffets

So since H, the kids and I spent last Thursday through yesterday helping our nearest beach town rid itself of all its fried clams, various chowders, and crablegs (or, melted butter with a small side of crabmeat), it's definitely de-tox time.

To take the sting out of leaving all the seafood behind, I took advantage of the bright, shiny, overpriced grocery store's sale on "E-Z peel" shrimp today. I also hauled home a huge organic eggplant (inspired by Dawn's Japanese beauties from two weeks ago), some part-skim ricotta, romaine hearts and more spinach! (I'm craving more wilted spinach salad ---a 12-step program may be in order here).

Here's what I've got loosely planned for this week:

Monday: Eggplant parmesan stacks (recipe follows), whole wheat blend spaghetti, salad

Tuesday: Steamed shrimp with cocktail sauce, baked potatoes, wilted spinach salad with hot bacon dressing (from last week's post)

Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner- - -scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, fruit salad

Thursday: Meeting H at the park after work and day camp- - probably Subway and ice cream afterwards.

Friday: Beef tips with mushroom gravy in the crockpot, brown rice, broccoli

Here's my take on eggplant parmesan; it's adapted from an eggplant rolatini recipe from Food Network.

One large eggplant, sliced into about eight 1/4-inch rounds

Three eggs

1 tbsp water

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 cup grated parmesan, divided in half

1 cup shredded mozzerella cheese

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup Italian-seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 cup canola oil

1 jar marinara sauce- I like Classico tomato/basil

Preheat oven to 425. Mix two of the eggs with the water in a shallow bowl. Place the bread crumbs in a seperate shallow bowl. Set aside. Spread the oil in the bottom of a large cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. 

Dredge each eggplant round first in the egg mixture and then in the bread crumbs. Place on the cookie sheet one at a time, then bake for about 15 minutes, then turn over each slice and bake a few minutes more, watching closely to make sure they don't get too brown. Remove pan from oven and reduce the oven temp to 375.

In a medium bowl, mix ricotta with one egg, garlic powder, oregano, and 1/2 the parmesan. Scoop 2- 3 heaping tbsps of the cheese mixture on four of the rounds, and then top with the remaining four---you should have four "sandwiches." Spoon about 1/4 cup sauce on each stack, then top each with mozzerella and the remaining parmesan. Bake about 20 minutes more, or until filling is set and mozzerella's melted and bubbly.

Menu update. . .I'm thinking salads this week

Another quick update on last week's menu plan, plus some ideas for this week. Last week, the real winners were the impromptu Asian noodle salad and the Italian pot roast. If you've never tried John Baricelli's take on pot roast from http://everydayfood.com/ , go there now and print that sucker. It's pretty much like every other slow-cooker pot roast recipe, with the addition of garlic and canned whole tomatoes in puree. The tomatoes cook down with the juices from the meat to form a delectable sauce. It's a nice un-brown break from traditional gravy.

The broccoli and cheese quiche that was planned for Tuesday turned out to be Sunday brunch and another wedge of it pulled lunch duty today with a green salad. Got some jealous glances cast toward my desk at 12:35 while folks paraded to the break room to microwave their cup-o-whatevers. Heh.

The brats were terrific as usual. The meatloaf never quite made the cut last week, due to schedule changes and the previously- mentioned near-heatstroke I suffered last Monday. SOME of us, *cough* dawn *cough* are off enjoying the refreshing breezes of the Alaskan coast right now while their dearest friends are still workin' the grind during the day and having their ankles gnawed by children in the evening.

Seriously, though, D, I hope you and Mr. NTM are having a big ol' time. Don't forget to give those guys from The Deadliest Catch a wink and a pinch from me, if you see them. Go a little further if it'll score you some crab legs to bring home for me. I won't tell.

This week's menu musings are quite slim, in fact, it's one, singular musing. Tonight (Monday) we'll eat at home, and then Tuesday there's a "get acquainted" picnic supper for Nate's kindergarten class and Wednesday's kind of a free-for-all since we'll be packing for a long-weekend at the beach.

Anyway. Due to a sale at the local bright, shiny, overpriced store on fresh spinach, I am the proud owner of two pre-washed bags of baby leaves. My plan is to do a hot bacon dressing for one of them and I'm not sure about the other one yet. Ideas, anyone? Bueller? Frye? Daaawwwn???!! (Did you hear that echo over the icy mountaintops? Have a blast, girl; get home safe.

Wilted Spinach Salad With Hot Bacon Dressing

1 bag baby spinach leaves

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp dijon mustard

5-6 slices bacon, chopped.

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1 8-oz pkg fresh sliced mushrooms

about 1/2 a red onion, thinly sliced

This is so good, people. Although it's usually a side with chicken or steak (we're having it with rotisserie chicken from the deli), you will ignore the main course, inhale this salad and lick the bowl afterward.

Place spinach, mushrooms and red onion in a large serving bowl (stainless, ceramic or glass). Saute bacon in a medium-hot skillet until crispy. Drain off a little of the drippings, but leave about 1-2 tbsp in the pan. Add the olive oil, vinegar, mustard and sugar and whisk together quickly in the pan until the sugar dissolves. Pour all over salad ingredients and toss to coat. Garnish with chopped eggs.

what i bought this week:
dawn

i have never seen these varieties of eggplant before.


and, they're small little cuties. their texture and taste is just like the normal, everyday variety sold in the grocery store.

this weekend i had them in nachos as part of the salsa. very yums. how about you, tracy? do you ever cook much with eggplant?

What I'm Cooking This Week-Nights at the Improv

Tracy

An update on the menu plan:

We've been having 100-plus temperatures here lately and although meatloaf is a family fave and we were all looking forward to it, a little improvization was definitely in order.

By 4:30 p.m. Monday, after feeling my hiney sizzle on the van seat after practically crawling to the parking lot gasping for air after work, I realized that the thought of turning on the oven made me gag. So I did. I gagged again on the phone with hubs a few minutes later, to demonstrate my dismay.

He was really looking forward to the meatloaf (I'm so, so fortunate that my hubs has simple wants) but he understood and even offered to eat just salad for dinner. After nearly careening into a utility pole at this bit of news, I gathered my senses and tried to think of a cool but satisfying alternative.

After doing a quick mental inventory of the fridge contents: Leftover whole-grain spaghetti noodles, shredded bagged cabbage, some bell peppers and 10,000 various bottles of condiments, I had a new plan.

This Asian noodle salad recipe was passed on to me by my former neighbor, Laurie Marshall. Laurie's version used salsa as one of the base components for the dressing, but that makes it a little thick for me. I've tweaked it over the years, and here's what I've come up with:

Crunchy Asian Noodle Salad

Cooked linguine noodles (any kind of long pasta will do; I used spaghetti, a little less than 1 lb.)

1 bag shredded cabbage (like you'd buy for coleslaw)

1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips

2 green onions, chopped

1/2 seedless cucumber, sliced into half-moons

3-4 sprigs cilantro, chopped (I'd use more but H claims cilantro "repeats" on him)

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (I had to use about a tablespoon of the jarred variety, chopped up)

About 1/4 cup chopped peanuts

For the dressing:

4 tbsp creamy peanut butter

About 5-6 tbsp Thai sweet chile sauce

3 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp sesame or vegetable oil

1/4 cup warm water

Splash of rice vinegar or lime juice, about 1-2 tsp

Place noodles and veggies in a large bowl. Put dressing ingredients in a seperate smaller micro-safe bowl or large glass measuring cup. Microwave dressing ingredients on high for about 20 seconds and whisk together. Pour over noodles and veggies and toss to coat. Garnish with chopped peanuts.

This is so pretty ,tasty and refreshing for dinner on a hot day when looking at the oven causes one to retch. Because , well, that's just not a good kitchen activity.

Oh, and about those adorable eggplants! I've never done much more than traditional eggplant parmesan, but come to think of it I haven't made that in ages and it's high time I did again. Hubs just informed me that's one of the dishes I used to make "back in the courtin' days" until I finally snagged him and then never made again. Heh. I also used to take peeled, cubed eggplant and saute it in olive oil with some fresh sliced mushrooms and a diced zucchini until soft, then poured in my favorite marinara sauce and served over pasta. That was one of our faves in the early married days, and it also could stand a revisit. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, D!

what i did this week:
dawn

i played in the ginormous corn field near my house. the corn was about 10 feet tall. i kept waiting for the baseball players to come out, but they never did. and this farmer was smart enough in this economy not to put a baseball diamond in the middle of it either. i didn't realize that corn has thick, claw-like roots that look like creepy feet.



i also didn't realize that corn could be both blonde and red headed. tell me why that is so farm girl tracy? is it because the silk dries at different rates? or are they different varieties of corn?

This Week's Monday Menu Musings

Tracy

I'm using the word "musings" here because I'm fairly new to weekly meal planning. Also, "musings" seems to fit my track record so far. I may see a recipe online or in a magazine and think "I'm definitely trying that Thursday." What I mean by "try," you see, is that I'm going to paint my nails, drink a Coke Zero or two and think about it. Hard. And then, if I can actually remember the recipe's basic ingredients when I'm at the store I might buy them and haul them home and let them live in my pantry until one day I'm staring at a box of Hot Hungarian Paprika wondering how on earth it got there.

I know, I know, with two kids and a husband having a plan should be old hat by now. But hubs has had a whacky work schedule for years and it seems the kids just got around to consistently eating "grown-up" meals. When they were toddlers and my husband worked past dinner almost every weeknight, the kids and I were all content with quick staples like pasta and bottled sauce, grilled cheese , baked potatoes or omlets, usually with cut-up fruit or veggies on the side. If I knew my husband was going to be home at mealtime, I would do more traditional fare, with a main course, side dish and salad, but on nights when it was just me and two people whose entire meal consisted of two or three tablespoon-size servings, it hardly seemed worth the effort.

But these days "Daddy's home" almost every night for dinner, so we're treated to sitting down together at least a few times a week. The kidlets have also evolved from being crumb-crunchers to wanting an actual protein (!) once in awhile and I've realized that variety keeps them open to trying new foods. A plan is now a must, and so are meals that can do double-duty so I can get more bang for my food buck.

So, here's what I'm thinking about for this week, and this time I actually made my shopping list according to the meals I've got planned. I am so impressed with myself.

Monday: Meatloaf ( my MIL's awesome recipe, which is pretty basic but topped with a glaze mixture of ketchup, brown sugar and mustard), mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli

*Bonus meal* Meatloaf sandwich in Tuesday's lunchbox

Tuesday: Broccoli and cheese quiche, fruit salad

* (leftover quiche can pull lunch duty Wednesday too)

Wednesday: Italian potroast (from http://pbseverydayfood.com/), brown rice, steamed snow peas

Thursday: Grilled brats, baked beans, coleslaw

Friday: Leftover Italian potroast on hoagie rolls with melted provolone, baked Alexia fries, veggies and dip.

Oh, and the "dip" isn't just any ol' dip. It's tzatziki cucumber dip from our local market---you SO didn't get the last container of it, Dawn! Nyah-nyah-nyah!

Looking over the menu, it seems beef-heavy, but I'm building on what I already have in the freezer this week. I tried to incorporate at least one meatless night, and doing something breakfast-y like quiche is quick, comforting and easy on the budget too.

So, there it is---my kinda-sorta-solid plan for the week. I'll post updates about successes and letdowns.

Oh, and Dawn---I checked with my dad and he said the corn with the "redheaded" silks probably "ain't good and dry yet" (meaning "ripe" in Eastern N.C. -speak). He said it's not uncommon for corn to mature at varying stages when you have long dry spells with sporadic storms here and there. Got anymore burning corn questions? Bring 'em on, sistah!