Wonder by R.J. Palacio

My eight year old son recently finished up his third grade year.  As a strong student in math, reading is not much of his thing.  During a parent teacher conference, it was suggested to me to continue to read to him before bed each night, but to choose books that are slightly above his reading level.  So I did.

Whenever I am choosing a new read for myself, I tend to gravitate toward books that have been listed on the The New York Times Bestseller List.  So when cruising through the children's book section at Target, I stuck to my usual habits and found this; "Wonder", written by R.J. Palacio.  The cover appeared interesting enough, it had been featured on the bestseller list, and reading the back of the book as well as one random page in the middle, got me to spend $15.99 on this 313 page children's novel.

I cannot express to you how much my son and I both LOVED this book! We both laughed, cried, and rooted for the main character, Auggie, throughout the entire book.  Reading this novel together was such a great bonding experience for us, and it taught us both a thing or two about how we view and treat others.

 Auggie is not your typical fifth grader.  Well, as far as looks go.  Auggie was born with a severe facial deformity that kept him from going to a public school until his parents allowed him to when he reached the fifth grade.  Palacio writes each chapter from a different characters perspective to tell the heartfelt story of Auggie's first year in public school and what it had been like for him growing up.  It didn't take long for us to realize how likeable of a kid Auggie is and how much he and my son have many of the same interests in common.  We finished this book up a few months ago, and I find it amazing how often the name "Auggie" still comes up in our conversations.  Auggie has forever left an imprint in our minds and hearts.  This book would make a great gift for any elementary school student.  "Wonder" is a powerful impact of a read that teaches children many great life lessons on trust, fear, real friendships, and what it means to stay true to yourself! 

Salmon Tacos

Who doesn't like a good fish taco on a hot summer evening?  These salmon tacos can be consumed completely guilt free.  They are so yummy and pretty healthy too!  They are also husband approved.  :)

INGREDIENTS:

1.5 lbs. Salmon fillet
1-2 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning
2-3 TBSP butter
juice of one lime
salt & pepper
8 corn tortillas (I like these)

Topping suggestions:

chopped tomatoes
chopped cilantro
chopped cabbage
crumbled cotija cheese
sour cream
tapatio
lime wedges

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Line a rimmed cookie sheet with aluminum foil.  Spray the foil with cooking spray and place the salmon fillet on top, skin side down.  Season the fillet with the lemon pepper, salt and pepper.  Cut the butter into small pieces and place them evenly over the top of the fillet.  Squeeze the juice from the lime evenly over the fillet.  Cover with another piece of foil and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Depending on the thickness of your fillet you may need to adjust your cooking time, the salmon is finished when it flakes off easily with a fork.  In the meantime, chop and prep your toppings.  Just before the salmon fillet is finished, heat a cast iron griddle over Med./High heat and warm your corn tortillas.  When the salmon is finished baking, flake using forks.  Assemble your tacos as desired. ENJOY!

Stir Fry Sauce (a DG original!)

This recipe is technically not a new post.  It originally made its debut here as part of my Thai Lettuce Wrap recipe.  (Which btw, if you haven't checked it out yet I suggest you do so.  It's one of our favs!)  Stir fry is another one of our favs and this has become my go-to recipe for making the sauce.  I wanted to make a post specifically for this since I use it a lot and it'll make my life much easier when I go to find it!  (Its true, I use my blog as my personal online recipe keeper! I love it!)

I'll assume that most of you know what stir fry is and how to make it. For those who don't its basically a mixture of meat, veggies and a stir fry sauce (such as this one) stir fried together with oil (sesame oil works well!) over high heat and served over steamed rice.  I like to keep it simple and use beef with onion, carrots, celery, bean sprouts, and sometimes broccoli.  Keep in mind that the possibilities are endless!!  Try using chicken or shrimp or throwing some snap peas or bell peppers! OH YUM!!

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 C low sodium soy sauce

1.5 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. corn starch
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 TBSP sherry

DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl, whisk together all the above ingredients.  Transfer to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Turn heat down and allow to simmer for three minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside.  Use in your favorite stir fry recipe.  ENJOY!

Homemade Rice-a-Roni

 

Boxes of Rice-a-roni used to be a staple in our cupboards. 

"What shall I serve with these pork chops tonight?" " I know, Rice-a-roni!"

" Hmmm... what'll go good with this bbq chicken?" " How about some Rice-a-roni?!"

Pretty sad, right!?

Over the past few years I have become more and more conscientious of what I feed my family.  It hasn't happened overnight, but I have cut waaaay back on the amount of "boxed" foods and convenience foods that I purchase, which includes....you guessed it! RICE-A-RONI!!  It brings me much joy to make things by scratch as often and possible.  I had never realized before how easy and inexpensive it can be to create some of my favorite items at home that I used to thoughtlessly throw into my shopping cart. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to stumble across a recipe for homemade rice-a-roni on pinterest.  It has taken me a few tries to adjust the recipe to our taste and I am ever so proud to present to you my adapted recipe for "Homemade rice-a-roni"!!

Rice-a-roni (just wanted to throw that in one more time...not sure that I mentioned it enough yet!) :)

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 C raw orzo
3/4 C raw white rice
2 TBSP butter
14.5 oz. boiling water
2 tsp. chicken granules (heaping)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried parsley

DIRECTIONS:

In a large skillet, over medium high heat, melt the butter and sauté the orzo until is starts to brown. Add the white rice and continue to brown until golden.  Add the boiling water, chicken granules, garlic powder and dried parsley.  Bring to a full boil then turn the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.  ENJOY!

*NOTE* You can replace the boiling water & chicken granules with store bought or homemade chicken stock.  I use chicken granules a lot in place of chicken stock...It saves a lot of money! Especially if you purchase the giant container of Knorr chicken granules from Costco.  You can make aprox. 115 cups of  broth for under $8.00!!!  What a steal!

recipe adapted from food.com

Speculoos Cookie Butter Cookies

My husband brought TJ's  Speculoos Cookie Butter to my attention after he had heard about it on the radio.  He said that it is becoming hard to get and that people are starting to sell it on eBay.  The hot commodity of summer 2013. Whaaaa?! That's all he had to tell me before I decided that I must have some. 

It took me exactly one week after my initial try to get my hands on two jars of the stuff.  I hadn't realized that it came in a crunchy and a smooth variety.  Crunchy is all I could get at the time and after I witnessed a TJ's employee getting grilled for saving me the two jars, I wasn't about to get picky.  I took my jars, placed them in my cart, gave a quick "thanks!" and then bolted down the next aisle.  At last, they were MINE!

My sister told me that Cookie Butter is much like biscoff spread, and after tasting it, I would have to agree.  Although Cookie Butter is a tad bit more sweet in my opinion, I think they are both wonderful!!  You can spread it on toast, bagels, biscuits, or eat it by the spoonful.  Whatever your heart so desires. I chose to incorporate it into cookie dough thus creating the Cookie Butter Cookies.  These cookies are extremely chewy and go fantastically with a tall glass of milk.  My husband had a brilliant idea of spreading cookie butter on top of the cookie butter cookies.  YUM!

INGREDIENTS:

1 C Speculoos Cookie Butter (smooth or crunchy)
1 C sugar (plus more for rolling)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 C  all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Using an electric mixer, cream together the cookie butter and sugar.  Add the vanilla and beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Next, mix in the dry ingredients until all ingredients are well incorporated.  Using a cookie scoop, roll the dough into balls and then roll them into sugar and place them approx. 2 inches apart on your cookie sheet.  If your not using a cookie scoop you can roll the dough into balls about the size of a ping pong ball.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.  Cool completely before storing into an air tight container.  ENJOY!

Tricia's 20min. Stovetop Chili

Its been a little while since my last post.  I went through another one of my cooking funks.  It's the kind of funk where I never know what to cook, nothing ever sounds good, and I go on a menu planning strike.  I think I am over it.  For now.

The boys have been bugging me for weeks to make them some chili and cornbread.  The weather is getting nicer here so I was hoping they'd forget about it and instead be satisfied with the lighter dishes that I like to cook during this time of the year.  Nope!  So last night, I gave in and cooked them what they wanted.  I love to take care of my spoiled brats!

This is a super quick recipe that will definitly satisfy your chili cravings.  It is one of my go-to recipes since I usually have all the ingredients on hand.  Start to finish, you can have this dinner on the table in 20 minutes! What's not to love? If prepared the way the recipe is written, the chili will have a kick to it.  My way of dealing with that when serving it to my boys is to stir in a healthy helping of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, it helps curve the spice. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 14.5 oz. can of petiete diced tomatoes
1 15oz. can of red kidney beans (drained)
1.5 TBSP ancho chili powder
1 TBSP cumin
1TBSP paprika
1 tsp. salt
1/2 C water

*Topping options*:

cheddar cheese
chopped onion (yellow or green!)
sour cream or plain Greek yogurt


DIRECTIONS:

Chop the onion and garlic.  Brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic and drain any excess fat.  Add remaining ingredients and stir well to combine.  Let simmer on low for 5-10 minutes.  Enjoy!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Spice Cookies

I'm so sorry that I've been MIA for the past few weeks.  This recent wonderful shift in our weather has kept me outdoors more than usual and my lack of menu planning has me running to the grocery store almost everyday during my lunch hour, that's the time when I normally spend blogging.  So how've you all been? Good, I hope!  My boys are getting so big, Dominic is currently on spring break and will be starting baseball later this month. Carson is surprising us everyday with the things he chooses to eat.  This weekend we had him chowing down on peppered beef jerky, it was peppered enough to even make my mouth wanting water!  We also discovered that he likes kale tossed with Caesar dressing and freshly squeezed lemon juice (a little creation that my sister showed me, try it it's delish!).  And if we put "chup" (ketchup) on it, he will eat just about anything!!!

Enough of my blabbering, on to the cookies! I actually made these about three weeks ago.  I was very much in a baking mood and was yoyo-ing with the idea of making oatmeal cookies, chocolate chip cookies, or spice cookies.  Decisions, decisions.  Then BAM, I thought "duh, I'll just do all three!!" And that is how this recipe I present to you today was born.  :)

These cookies are ridiculously quick and easy to throw together and they have the perfect amount of chewiness.  The recipe makes about a dozen and a half cookies. 

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 C all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda 
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves 
1 tsp. all spice
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 C butter; softened
1/2 C sugar 
1/2 C brown sugar
1 egg 
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 C oatmeal
1/4 C mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and the sugars.  Next, beat in the egg.  Now add the spices and mix well. Stir in the oatmeal and the chocolate chips.  Drop by the tsp. full onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Allow to cool on a wire rack.  Store in an airtight container.  ENJOY!