Mini Mediterranean Burgers

Aug 13th, 2010 // Appetizers, Dinner, Recipes

My parents are visiting from the east coast again. If you recall, the last time they were in town they bought us a grill in honor of our 8th wedding anniversary. My dad, who is super handy, spent a day putting that grill together all by himself right before they left for the airport. So, it was only appropriate to grill dinner their first night back in town. Note: my husband does not do handy work so my dad gets lots of assignments when he visits. This time he’ll be hanging pictures, doing some spackling and fixing the old fashion crystal door knob on the baby’s room. (I had to completely remove it last week when I got locked out of her room. Yikes!)

It was my kid’s idea to make mini hamburgers proving once again that size does matter. We picked up a package of grass fed organic beef, feta cheese and mini hamberger buns from the Church of Trader Joe’s (it is practically my religion at this point) and used some herbs from my friend Jaime’s Garden Bounty to make these really tasty burgers. By the way, how cute does my kid look with his 1950s style paper chef hat? Now for the recipe…

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Open Face Omelet

Aug 12th, 2010 // Breakfast, Kid-tastic, Picky Busters, Recipes, Veggie Friendly

If you follow the blog, you already know that I like to make kid-friendly fare but I try to be as adventurous as possible. In other words, I don’t do straight kiddie meals. Except maybe this once. I woke up with this idea and I was so excited about it that I actually let my kid watch TV instead of cooking with me. I tiptoed into the kitchen and prepared the omelet and then surprised him with it on the sofa. He was SO EXCITED that he actually took his eyes off the TV. (That’s H-U-G-E.) He ate it in 2 minutes flat and then asked to make his own Open Face Omelet.

We cooked the second omelet together and then I set out a bunch of different veggies for him to chose from. He went to town adding far more facial features than I included on my face. Eating the “parts” of the face were especially thrilling! To my kid this was the best breakfast ever. I was just as satisfied having delivered an awesome surprise and enjoying the simple pleasure of it all. Now for the recipe…
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Oven Baked Zucchini Fritters

Aug 11th, 2010 // Healthy, Recipes, Sides, Veggie Friendly

My husband, who is a bit of a hippy, flew to San Francisco this past weekend for a series of concerts. Three in a row to be exact. I stayed at home with both kids. (Hmm.. what should I ask for in return? Spa? Jewelery? Shoes?) My friend Jaime of Prudent Baby, was also husband-less this weekend so she brought her daughter over. Lucky for me, Jaime never shows up empty handed. This time I was delighted to open the door to find Jaime holding her entire garden bounty! Her daughter and my son discussed every item in the garden bounty box and then headed out to the yard to spend some time in the bouncy house.

While they bounced, Jaime and I drank beers and gabbed about all the things that I could make with the bounty.  After a bunch of bouncing we had dinner and then our kids took a big bubble bath together. We closed out the evening with them both in their PJs listening to a story about dinosaurs. So cute! Later that weekend, I realized  I had all the ingredients to make zucchini fritters right in my house so I decided to whip up a batch of ‘em. These are not as decadent their fried brethren, but they are still tasty and far healthier. My kid tried grating which was nerve wracking but I watched him very carefully and cut him off when it got within 1.5 inches of the grater. Now for the recipe…

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Breadless BLT with Buttermilk Dressing

Aug 9th, 2010 // Appetizers, Dinner, Recipes

So many of you loved our Bite Sized Greek Salad post that we decided to make another fun little hand held salad! The idea really started with the Grilled Maple Turkey Bacon, followed by a quick survey of ingredients already in the fridge and the Breadless BLT recipe was born. My kid was beyond fascinated by the lettuce cup and jumped at the chance to use the avocado slicer.

Yes, I do know that BLT purists would shun the avocado, but I live in California! We add avocado to everything. No, my kid did not eat the tomatoes. But, he couldn’t get enough of the avocados and bacon together. This turned out to be such a fun, easy starter that I’m definitely putting it on the menu for my next party. (By the way, we used veggie bacon on my husband’s portion.) Now for the recipe…

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Grilled Maple Turkey Bacon

Aug 8th, 2010 // Breakfast, Dinner, Recipes

You know how great bacon tastes when it gets some pancake syrup on it, right? Well, I’m sure that’s what inspired the maple bacon recipe in Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You’ll Make Over and Over Again. We were inspired by that recipe, but decided to make turkey maple bacon on the grill. My kid did a lot of supervising but not much hands on cooking because he’s still a bit to young to be leaning over a hot grill. He did not hesitate to eat the finished product, however!

Cooking up this turkey bacon on the grill was unbelievably easy and there was no mess because the grill catches all the drippings. And yes, it tastes as good as it looks. Now for the recipe…

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