welcome home, J!

Jason is back home after two weeks in Korea - finally! :) I made a big welcome home dinner for him, and tried two new recipes, both of which I'm excited to share!

We started with one of my favorite appetizers, bread with dipping oil. I'm still (slowly) re-stocking the fridge after the 4th of July weekend disaster, and didn't realize until it was too late that I didn't have any balsamic. I ended up with an herb-infused oil instead, that we both loved. I mixed about a 1/4 c. EVOO with oregano, garlic powder, pepper, and a pinch of salt. Just add the spices a little bit at a time until you're happy with the taste - easy!



Dinner was simple and summery. I marinated two tilapia filets in lemon juice, lime juice, and fresh ground pepper for about 4 hours. Just bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes (depending on the thickness of the filet - just keep an eye on it). I topped the tilapia with fresh mango salsa from Whole Foods, with jasmine rice and fruit salad on the side.




The real show-stopper was dessert. I found this awesome no-bake, dairy-free strawberry pie here. A word to the wise: make sure you bake the pie crust first! (oops!) Once I recovered from that little speed bump, it was all smooth sailing. The recipe is simple (and delicious) and a perfect summer dessrt.




I also put together a make-ahead casserole for breaskfast. It was definitely a special treat since is loaded with dairy, but well worth it! We first had this french toast casserole while visiting our friends Steve and Tugce over the 4th of July weekend, and J loved it so much I had to find a way to re-create it! I found a good recipe by Paula Dean on the Food Network Website. The only trick here is that this is a recipe for a crowd, and I just wanted to make enough for the two of us. Here's how I modified the recipe:

6 slices (about 3/4 of an inch) french baguette
2 eggs
1/2 c. half and half
1/4 c. milk
1 TBSP sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg


Arrange the slices in two rows in a loaf pan. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, dairy, sugar, vanilla and spices until well blended. Pour the mixture evenly over the slices, cover the pan with tin foil, and refridgerate overnight.

The next morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and mix up this quick topping:

1/4 brown sugar
1 Tbsp Canola oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 Tbsp honey

Lightly mix unil ingredients are combined (don't over mix). Sprinkle the topping over the casserole, and bake for 35 minutes, until the bread is golden and puffy. YUM!







enjoy!

Whole Foods to the rescue!

Generally, a pre-made, pre-packaged marinated meat is something I would steer you far, far away from. Pre-made marinades are enticing in terms of ease (and usually price) but that's because they're usually full of high-fructose corn syrup, red dye #7, and a whole list of other things you're better off not putting in your body.

This week though, J and I made a discovery at our local Whole Foods that shatters what would have previously been a pretty rigid a5c rule. Whole Foods offers pre-marinated, packaged, perfectly proportioned meat in the butcher section. The ingredient list was no more than 5 or 6 items long, and they were all reconigizable foods that you mostly likely have hanging around your kitchen! With this new discovery though, we saved the mess and the hassel of mixing up a marinade as well as the time it takes to really make a difference in the taste of your meat. Dinner was on the table in a matter of minutes, and while we both loved the ease, the taste was great too! We chose the orange chicken tenders, but there were plenty of other options in flavors and meats. We added salad topped with organic strawberries, apple, and croutons (and I found potato salad at Whole Foods - also free of any unrecognizable/unpronouncable ingredients - heaven!) but the combinations are endless.Truh be told, the Whole Foods version is going to run you more than the high-fructose, red dye #7 version, but it will be well worth it. Make up for the difference by digging through the back of your freezer and using up some frozen vegetables you've had hanging around for awhile. Or, put together a simple salad on the side. Be creative!

Perfect for busy (hot) summer nights, this no-fuss dinner in an ideal a5c solution when you're short on time - and, let's be honest, when do we have bunches of extra time on our hands?

enjoy!

a love/hate relationship (with fruit salad)

Fruit salad is one of those things that I love to eat, but hate to make. It takes an eternity (yes, really) to cut up all the fruit, and by the time you're done you're too tired to eat it anyway.

While I'd love a huge salad of mixed fruit any day of the week, lately I've been choosing one or two fruits, and making single serving portions salad with whatever we have around the apartment - one for each of us. This morning in the fridge we had bananas, 8 strawberries, and two peaches. In no time at all not only did we have banana pancakes and simple fruit salad, but I'd squeezed three servings of fruit into our day before 10 am!

As always, a simple fruit salad is considerably more budget friendly. The container of strawberries at Whole Foods was $2.99, and the two peaches were under a dollar. $4? That is after5chef budget friendly for sure.

Tonight we have a reservation at the Ivy Restaurant for dinner. While this is NOT typically in the a5c budget, J bought one of last weeks groupons. Haven't seen groupon.com yet? It's a great way to stretch the budget a bit. This particular deal is $15 for $30 worth of food. Haven't seen groupon.com yet? You've got to check it out: www.groupon.com.

I'll be back with a picture or two of dinner. In the meantime .... start putting together that fruit salad, it's almost time for lunch!


enjoy!