Mom Meals: Pot Roast

Pot roast is one of Matt's favorite dishes. While it can take up to 4 hours to make, with a little help from Trader Joe's, you can significantly decrease the time. When I don't plan ahead, I just throw all the ingredients in a pot over the stove and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Since I did plan for this post, I used a slow cooker to let the juices get extra flavorful!

Pot Roast

Serves 4

1 package Trader Joe's precooked Pot Roast

1 package Trader Joe's Teeny Tiny Potatoes {perfect size for little hands}

4 Carrots, peeled and cut in 2 inch pieces

1 pound Green Beans

2-3 cups Beef Stock

1/2 cup Red Wine {optional, but it gives the sauce a richer flavor}

1. Place potatoes (including the rosemary in the package), green beans, and carrots in a slow cooker

2. Place pot roast on top

3. Add in beef stock and red wine

4. Turn slow cooker on low, cover, and heat for 2 hours. Break the meat up 30 minutes before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste

5. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes

Enjoy!

Mom Meals: Shrimp Tacos

This meal was a big hit in our family, and literally took me like 20 minutes to make!

Shrimp Tacos
Serves 4

1 pound Shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails off {I have a bag of frozen deveined, EZ peel in the freezer}
1 tablespoon Canola Oil
1/4 teaspoon Cumin
1 Garlic Clove
1 bag Cole Slaw mix without dressing {who has time to slice up all those ingredients??}
1/4 cup Mayonnaise
1 teaspoon White Vinegar
2 Tomatoes
2 Avocados
12 Corn Tortillas
Lime Wedges


1. Mix mayonnaise and vinegar together until it forms a thinner consistency

2. Chop tomatoes, slice avocado, and mix together

2. Heat oil in a heavy skillet. Throw in garlic. Mix in shrimp and cook until opaque. Stir in cumin and cook for another minute or two. Remove from heat

3. Warm tortillas in a toaster oven or microwave. Place slaw mixture on top of the tortilla and pour some of the mayonnaise mixture over. Add the shrimp, tomatoes, and avocado. Serve with a lime wedge on the side

Enjoy!

Mom Meals: Sausage and Roasted Vegetable Penne

This recipe is another great way to clean out your fridge and also gets your family to eat more vegetables!

Sausage and Roasted Vegetable Penne

Serves 4

1 red bell pepper, remove seeds and stems and chop into chunks

1/2 pound sliced crimini mushrooms

1 pound broccolini, ends trimmed

1 package Trader Joe's sweet italian sausage, remove the casings and break them up into small chunks

1/4 cup white wine (optional)

12 ounces penne, cook according to package instructions

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

2. In a bowl, toss all the vegetables in oil. Season with salt and pepper

3. Place on a baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes or until caramelized. Turn the vegetables halfway through the cooking time

4. In a large skillet, saute sausage until cooked through

5. Turn up the heat and deglaze with white wine

6. Once the vegetables are cooked and cooled, add them, along with any pan juices, to the skillet

7. Toss in the cooked penne. Add reserved pasta water or some tomato sauce, if desired, to moisten

8. Season with salt and pepper, and garnish with parmesan cheese

Enjoy!

Mom Meals: Prosciutto and Mushroom Pizza

This is probably the easiest meal to make ever, and it's also a great way to get rid of any leftover meats and veggies hanging out in your fridge. I happened to have mozzarella and mushrooms readily available, so that's what was going on my pizza.

Prosciutto and Mushroom Pizza

Serves 4

1 16 ounce bag Trader Joe's pizza dough (I got garlic and herb)

5 slices of Prosciutto di Parma

Sliced Mushrooms

1 jar of Tomato Sauce

1 fresh Mozzarella Ball

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Take pizza dough out of the bag and let it rest at room temperature for 20 minutes

3. Roll or stretch out pizza dough on a floured surface to desired shape, and place dough on a pan that has been coated with non-stick cooking spray

4. Spread tomato sauce on dough and top with prosciutto, cheese, and mushrooms (If Trader Joe's didn't run out of basil, I would have included that too)

5. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until crust is lightly brown

Enjoy!

Mom Meals (and baby too): Pancakes!

One week in, and I already failed at my Mom Meals challenge to myself! Although, not because I didn't cook, but because I keep forgetting to take pictures!

Anyways, my friend Joy shared this with me, and Leah loves it (and I do too!). It's just 1 ripe banana, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, and 1 egg. Mix it together and cook it like you would regular pancakes. Like Joy, I also add half a tablespoon of flour to thicken it up a bit. It's so easy to make, there isn't an excuse to try it.

Mom Meals: Caprese

Lately I've been making the same things for dinner, and I'm starting to get a little bored. I'm sure my family is too. I'm going to try to mix things up a bit, and I'll try to post a Mom Meal once a week to motivate me to try new recipes. 

Caprese

This dish was inspired from the recipe "Mozza Caprese" in Nancy Silverton's book "The Mozza Cookbook." Osteria Mozza is one of my favorite restaurants, and when I went to The Taste LA, I was fortunate to meet co-owner Nancy Silverton. She's amazing! This recipe is more of an appetizer, but it was so easy and delicious!

1 1/2 pounds fresh burrata

Sea Salt

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Basil Pesto {the book has a recipe, but I just bought premade pesto}

30-40 Cherry Tomatoes {I used grape tomatoes since my grocery store only had those}

Fresh Basil

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Preheat the oven to 300 F

2. Place a wire rack on top of a baking sheet

3. Place the tomatoes on the rack, brush with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper

4. Place the tomatoes in the oven for about an 1 1/2 hours until the skins shrivel a bit. Remove from oven and allow them to cool

5. Cut the burrata and lay a segment, cut side up, on a plate

6. Season with sea salt and spoon 1 teaspoon of pesto over the cheese

7. Place a cluster of tomatoes over the cheese.

8. Drizzle with olive oil 

9. Scatter chopped basil over each salad

10. Serve with toasted thick bread if you want to make it a little heartier

Enjoy!

Mom Meals: Polenta Party!

The day of Leah's dedication, we decided to have everyone come back to our house for lunch instead finding a restaurant.  Since I don't have the luxury of laboring away in the kitchen to prepare food, I was looking for something yummy but easy to make for a large party.  I was watching one of my favorite shows, The Chew, and they were having a "Polenta Party."  I tried it out for the lunch with some modifications, and it ended up being the perfect combination of yummy, fun, and easy to make for entertaining.  Try it out the next time you have company!  

Polenta Party! original recipe by Michael Symon

Serves 6, very easy to double or triple for a party 

For the Polenta Base (this is where I modified the recipe): 

1 package Food Merchant Basil Garlic Pre-Cooked Polenta

1 can Chicken Stock

1/4 cup Mascarpone

1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano (grated)

Kosher Salt

1. Cut polenta into ¼ to ½ inch slices and heat in a sauce pan.  As polenta softens, break up the slices

2. Add small amounts of chicken stock and stir until desired thickness/creaminess is achieved

3. Add marscapone and parmigiano reggiano and stir

4. Add salt for taste

For Sausage Polenta:
1 pound Italian Sausage (skin removed)
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Onion (minced)
2 cloves Garlic (sliced)
1 28 ounce can San Marzano Tomatoes
1/2 cup Parsley leaves (chopped) 

1.  In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and then add the sausage, browning and rendering the fat
2. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened and fragrant, about 4 minutes
3. Add the san marzano tomatoes and a generous pinch of salt. Finish with parsley. Remove from heat.

For Spring Vegetable Polenta:
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Onion (minced)
2 cloves Garlic
1 pound Peas (shelled)
1 bunch Asparagus (cleaned and cut into coins)
1/2 cup Mint leaves only (torn)
2 tablespoons Parmesan
2 tablespoons Butter
1/4 cup Water

1. In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and then add the onion, once softened, about 4 minutes, add the garlic and asparagus. Season with a pinch of salt. Once asparagus is more tender, about a minute, add the peas. Sauté another 2 minutes and then remove from heat and stir in the mint, parmesan, butter and water

To Assemble Your Polenta: Pour the polenta over a cool marble slab (or bowl) and top with the filling of your choice.  Garnish with a little parmesan and enjoy

Mom Meals: Capellini with Scallops, Tomatoes, and Basil

This recipe is from Ina Garten and I added the scallops. 

Capellini with Scallops, Tomatoes, and Basil

Serves 6 

Kosher salt

1/2 cup good olive oil, plus extra for the pot and scallops

3 teaspoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves)

4 pints small cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes

18 large basil leaves, julienned

2 tablespoons chopped fresh curly parsley

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

3/4 pound dried capellini or angel hair pasta

1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

18-24 scallops 

Extra chopped basil and grated Parmesan, for serving

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of salt and a splash of oil to the pot.

2. Meanwhile, heat the 1/2 cup of olive oil in a large (12-inch) saute pan. Add the garlic to the oil and cook over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, basil, parsley, thyme, 2 teaspoons salt, the pepper, and red pepper flakes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to soften but don't break up.

3. While the tomatoes are cooking, add the capellini to the pot of boiling water and cook for 2 minutes, or according to the directions on the package. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water.

4. In another saute pan, add the butter and oil on high heat.  Salt and pepper the scallops. Once the fat begins to smoke, gently add the scallops, making sure they are not touching each other. Sear the scallops for 1 1/2 minutes on each side. The scallops should have a 1/4-inch golden crust on each side while still being translucent in the center. 

4. Place the pasta in a large serving bowl, add the tomatoes and Parmesan and toss well. Add some of the pasta water if the pasta seems too dry. Serve large bowls of pasta with extra basil sprinkled on top and a big bowl of extra Parmesan on the side. 

Mom Meals: Chocolate "Cup" Cakes

When I finally made the decision to be a stay-at-home mom, I had visions of cooking up gourmet meals and baking lots of sweet treats.  Little did I know that, realistically, I only had about 45 minutes of cooking before Leah wanted some attention.  Recently, I've been able to find some really easy recipes that I made in 30 minutes or less and were really yummy!  This one I found in People Magazine by Michael Symon.  Baking using a microwave!  Genius!  Enjoy!

Chocolate "Cup" Cakes

Serves 4
8 oz butter
8 oz dark chocolate chopped
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
4 eggs
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp orange zest
whipped cream/ice cream

1. Put butter and chocolate in a glass bowl. Microwave for 1 minute on highest setting. Stir until melted
2. In another bowl, whisk sugar, flour, eggs, salt, and orange zest. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Divide among 4 cups/mugs
3. Place mugs in microwave for 3 minutes on highest setting and let cool. Top with whipped cream or ice cream.