Style Advice of the Day

Yes, crocheted dresses are in style. Yes, they're cute and lovely. No... you really shouldn't wear them if you're any larger than a size 2. If you NEED something crocheted, get a bag.

Fantabulous Tandoori Chicken

This is one of those things that you'll need to be sure to take your Adderall before you start. It's really great; however, the chicken absolutely must marinate overnight so plan ahead.

Ingedients

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup Greek plain yogurt (Greek tastes way better)
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbs. malt vinegar
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tbs. curry
2 tbs. minced garlic
2 tbs. crushed fresh ginger root
2 tbs. ground cumin
1/4 cup grapeseed or flax oil
dash ground pepper
dash of sea salt
tiny pinch of cilantro

Cut slits in the chicken and prick all over with a fork, mix yogurt and spices in a ceramic dish and marinate the chicken in the mixture overnight. Brush off excess, brush with oil. Then roast at 450 degrees for about 30 minutes. Turn it over once half way through. It's actually much better to bbq it, if possible. Sprinkle with cilantro, salt, and pepper when through.

Spinach Enchiladas

These are super easy to throw together and perfect for summer parties because they're light yet perfect for soaking up margaritas. You can make them entirely vegan or add chicken... Either way, they will rock the party.

Ingredients

10 burrito size flour tortillas
2 pkgs. enchilada sauce mix
2- 6 oz. cans tomato paste
3 - 4 cups spinach
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 small finely chopped white onion
1/2 cup scallions
10 oz. frozen corn
1 large can sliced olives
6 oz. Monterey Jack Cheese
6 oz. Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1/2 rotisserie chicken (if desired)
2 tbs flax oil
1 tbs. peanut oil

Directions:

Prepare sauce mix as directed with tomato paste. Steam spinach for 3 minutes, then drain and set aside. Sautee mushrooms and onion in oils. Put small amount of sauce in the bottom of large, rectangular pan. Fill each tortilla with a few slices of chicken (if desired), 1/6 cup spinach, 1/4 cup corn. mushrooms, olives, jack cheese, and then top with sauce. Roll the tortilla so the edges are face down. Repeat with remaining enchiladas. Cover all of them with the remaining sauce and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Top with cheddar cheese and bake for another 10 minutes. Mission accomplished... Now go party.

Style Advice of the Day

As long as you have confidence and a smile, you'll rock any outfit. The clothes aren't wearing you...

Magic Meatballs

No offense, but many people make the same common mistake and lumping together some ground beef that tastes like a McD's reject found in a dark alley and then slapping tomato sauce on it and calling it a meatball. Making them taste authentic is actually quick and painless.

Ingredients

1 1/4 lb. extra lean gr. beef
3/4 lb gr. turkey
1 egg
1/2 cup finely grated parmesean cheese
1/2 cup Italian style bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely minced, sauteed or dried onion
1/8 cup ground garlic
2 tbs. basil
2 tbs. fresh, finely chopped rosemary
1 tbs. parsley
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

Mix all the ingredients into a bowl very thoroughly. Then form into cute little golf balls. Heat oil in large pan... Place the cute little golf balls in, turning them every 3 - 4 minutes so they don't flatten. After about 10 minutes, drain oil. Add a splash of cabernet, cook for 2 minutes more. Add sauce. Heat for just a couple minutes... Any longer than that will make your sauce thin out and you'll be kicking yourself for not making enough sauce. Remove from heat promptly. Voila! See? That wasn't so hard...

Cowboy Cookies

These are totally the best....

1/2 cup chopped dates

1/4 cup (80 grams)  pecans, toasted and chopped

1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup (140 grams) dark brown sugar

1/2 cup (100 grams) white granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups (195 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats

1/4 cup (35 grams) sweetened flaked coconut

1/2 cup (90 grams) semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup (50 grams) raisins

Place one oven rack in the top third of the oven, and one oven rack in the bottom third of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat in the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth (about 2 - 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat just until incorporated. Stir in the nuts, coconut, chocolate chips, and raisins. 

Form dough into balls, using 1/4 cup (55 grams) for each cookie. Place six balls of dough on each baking sheet. With moistened hands, gently flatten each ball of dough into a 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick cookie. Bake the cookies for about 14 - 16 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time. The cookies are done when they are golden brown around the edges and just barely set in the center. They should still be soft. Let em cool for about 20 minutes.

Ancient Italian Garlic Medicene Cold/ Virus Remedy

You work hard all week long, feeling run down is a pain butt then the cold/ virus arrives. Always an unwelcome visitor to anyone's terribly busy schedule, the pharmacist will likely  recommend  Cold-Eaze, Vitamin C, Sucrets, Vapor Rub, and Nyquil. By the end of your trip to the drugstore, you blew $100 and after three days your doctor says to come in for pharmacist quality b.s. Well, here is an ancient Italian recipe passed down over hundreds of years that actually works.

1/8 tsp. ground fresh sauteed garlic
2 tbs. apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tbs. clove honey
4 oz. boiling water

Mix thoroughly. Let sit 5 minutes. Drink quickly while still warm...hotter if you can stand it. It has a very distinct flavor that hopefully you won't be able to taste, but within an hour or so... you'll be very glad you took the bull by the horns and scared that virus right out of town.

Get better my sweet friends!

Italian Proverb:
Finchè c'è vita c'è speranza.
English translation: Where there's life, there's hope.

Shrimp Pappardelle Puttanesca

 

This  is a little spicy but very delicious....

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, or as needed
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 1/2 cups 1 inch sliced asparagus
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tbs. basil
• 1 tbs. rosemary
• 1 cup dry white wine

• 1 can medium black olives
• 1/2 cup capers, drained
• 2 tablespoons caper juice
• 2 (14 ounce) cans Italian stewed tomatoes
• 2 cups pan seared shrimp (large)
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 1 pound dried pappardelle pasta
• 16 oz. beer

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in mushrooms, asparagus, and garlic. Cook until the mushrooms have begun to brown, about 4 minutes. Increase heat to high, and pour in wine. Bring to a boil, then stir in olives, capers, caper juice, crushed tomatoes,  and pepper flakes and spices. Return to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 20 minutes.
2. In separate pan, cook shrimp in beer, drain, and add to sauce.
3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook  until al dente; drain and toss with sauce to serve.

                                                          FINI

             

Traveling With Kids Doesn't Have to Drive You (or Anyone Else) Nuts

A good friend of mine has finally decided it is time to travel with her kids, ages 3 and 1. Knowing I had an embarrassing amount of travel experience with my daughter and plenty of information to share, she called in a panic. First of all, she wasn't a traveler to begin with and if you haven't traveled yourself, it's going to be that much harder at first but everyone goes through it. Whether it was our first trip to Babies R' Us when she was 2 weeks old or her first flight at 9 months, the first times were always the most difficult because it was a new experience for us both. I always believe the best thing to do is travel with your kids during their regular nap times (not what their nap time schedule for Maui... plan for your time zone).
 If your kids are still really little, you can also make things a little easier on yourself by planning ahead. For the hotel, you're going to need pipe cleaners to tie up cords and duct tape for screaming children... Just kidding! The tape can actually be used to tape towels over sharp corners. The one year old will probably occupy himself in front the mirror for hours (it's their thing). At three, kids are into actual play and creative activities so make sure you pack travel friendly everything... Polly dolls instead of Barbies, Doodle Pro instead of loose paper and crayons, etc.... Keep in mind you're going out into the real world, where normal people do not wish to hear Elmo sing so please leave that at home.
 Restaurants and airplanes are extremely different situations in which you will likely get the exact same reaction out of your child in each situation primarily because they may be a little overstimulated due to the new experience. Talk softly to them, never scold them over it.... However, it is your job to take a screaming child out of a restaurant and it is perfectly okay to take the food to go. Everyone will be very grateful that you did. On the other hand, When you're on an airplane post 9/11 and your child starts screaming at the top of their lungs "We're all going to die", expect a very long and exceptionally quiet flight ahead. On a plane, there's very little you can do if your child starts crying and sometimes offering more toys and more stimuli will only exacerbate the situation. Bring some snacks, a familar book, a replica of their blankie or a replica of a favorite stuffed animal are the best if you do need to offer them something. Also, the rental car companies all offer car seats; however, they're completely nasty. I always either brought mine along or bought a new one and left it behind for the next person. Kids of all ages love gadgets and it will occupy them intermittently, whether it's a cell phone or a DS.
 The airports, restaurants, hotels, etc. will give you ample amounts of time to realize you have ample amounts of time. The airport is the worst because you're new and aren't sure what a long layover is. If your layover is over an hour, find your gate so you know where it is when you get lost and then go for a fun filled walk. Airports lack the ambience that children prefer, so you have to make things up. When you get to a long conveyor belt, remind them that they have to stay together so you'll all be rung up together at the end. Then, go look for the next one. Seriously.... did you ever think you would be doing this?
  You're going to have fun... The main thing to remember is to stay in tune with your kids. The first times are the hardest, but after a couple days they'll be regular tourists. Have a lovely vacation!

Swedish Meatballs

 

Pay Attention! Don't try this if you are currently experiencing any symptoms of ADD/ADHD.

 

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup Italian  style dried bread crumbs
• 1 cup evaporated milk, divided
• 1/2 lb. extra lean ground beef
• 1/2 lb. ground turkey
• 1/2 lb. ground pork
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 pinch dried parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
• ground nutmeg to taste
• 1 tablespoon worchester sauce
• onion soup mix

Directions

1. Melt 3 tablespoons butter or margarine in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 5 to 10 minutes, or until tender.
2. In a separate medium bowl, combine the bread crumbs with 2 tablespoons of evaporated milk and stir, allowing the crumbs to absorb the milk. Add the ground meat, onion soup mix, and worchester sauce, onion, egg, salt, ground black pepper and parsley to taste. Mix well and form into golf ball sized meatballs.
3. Heat remaining butter or margarine in the same skillet over medium to medium high heat and add the meatballs. Carefully shake the skillet to turn the meatballs, as needed. Saute for 10 to 15 minutes, or until meatballs are browned on all sides. Transfer the meatballs to a serving platter, reserving the liquid in the skillet.
4. Add the flour to the skillet and stir until smooth. Then gradually add the evaporated milk, tomato sauce and nutmeg to taste; again stirring until mixture is warmed, smooth and creamy. Strain over meatballs

                                                           FINI

Style Advice Of the Day

Coral, Coral, Coral, Coral, Coral

Mushroom Artichoke Chicken

Guess what we put in this?

1 lb. split boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 can artichoke hearts
1 1/2 cups portobello mushrooms
2 cups cream of mushroom soup
1 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove
2 tbs. butter
1tbs. flax oil
dash of gr. fresh rosemary
dash of basil
dash of pepper

Brown the chicken in the butter and flax oil. In separate pan, cook onion, minced garlic and mushrooms. Add veggies to chicken, cover with condensed cr. mushroom soup and add artichoke hearts. Add seasoning and lower heat. Cover and cook about 25 minutes. Serve with rice.



                                                                   FINI

More Things You MUST Know About Italians

#4 .  The Family Business…  While, I’m sure every culture receives its’ own fair share of prejudices; I can only speak of my own personal experience. Just because you hear an Italian say “family business”, it doesn’t mean it’s time for our semi-annual mafia potluck. It’s a painstakingly rare occurrence that those words don’t summon a bevy of shifty eyes peering at you like you already delivered the horse and had their cement shoes fitted. Heaven forbid you do utter the words “family business” as opposed to “family things”, “family affairs”, “family stuff” you would likely follow that up with an uncomfortable rambling about each and every detail of the “business”. Like, “Henry is divorcing Karen and the kids are so upset  blah blah blah…” and no matter how uncomfortable the rambling is, you only want them to stop staring at you, but you….can’t…..stop…..talking.

#5. Why Does Everyone Look So Hungry? … I don’t know the answer to that question. I think there’s just some genetic mutation that makes everyone look hungry, but then I’m not a scientist. Once, I was at a grocery store in Santa Barbara, California and I saw this hobo walking around picking up one inexpensive item after another and just staring at it and putting it back down. It nearly broke my heart, so when I saw him in the parking lot I pushed a twenty into his hand and then he began pummeling me with old blueberry muffins- at least I think those were blueberries. So, you can never tell and who am I to judge? All I know is if you’re holding a plate, I will feed you something and if I catch you gawking at food, consider it a done deal.

Style Advice of the Day

Never go out in public with a loved one in MATCHING NAUTICAL wear. Most couples don't pull off that look to well when worked in unison.

Fake it Til You Can Make It Teriyaki Chicken Lo Mein

Like most cuisine outside North America, Asian cuisine usually uses three or four spices that play a big part in most of their dishes. With most Asian fare, balance garlic, curry, and ginger and you'll be fine. Step out of line a little bit and suddenly you'll be having Ginger Chicken, Curry Chicken, or Garlic Chicken. I'm almost entirely sure this is how we got our North American perspective on the entire region, so let's just go with it.

You don't really need any special skills to do this recipe and you can still get away with it without the spices if they freak you out.

Serves 2- 4

2 split boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 1/2 cups angel hair noodles (trust me.... )
1 cup low sodium teriyaki sauce
1/2 cup of chopped scallions
1/2 cup thinnly sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup shredded carrots (optional)
2 tablesppons flax oil (peanut oil or veggie oil is fine, too)
dash of garlic
dash of curry
dash of ginger

First, slice chicken breast and marinate in 3/4 c. of teriyaki sauce for 3-6 hours in the fridge. Chilling is optional, but it does taste better if you do follow along. Prepare noodles as directed minus one- two minutes. Sautee all veggies in flax oil (I use flax oil because it TASTES better... but if don't want to follow along and decide peanut is better, by all means.) Next cook the chicken in the teriyaki sauce. Now, add veggies and remaining teriyaki sauce and cook for one minute. In a larger pan, for better distribution- stir fry the noodles, veggies, and chicken together in the flax oil. You can add 1/4- 1/2 cup of sauce but be careful because that stuff is loaded with salt. If it looks like dinner, and tastes like dinner, it must be dinner.

                                                                     FINI

What You MUST Know About Italians

#1: We Have No Idea How To Pack... You might say "Simplfy!".... To us, we hear "Add more black.". Or "Add more white." Either way we end up with twice as much luggage, had we not listened to you.     Italian culture is very much built around art and beauty, so do not be surprised when you see  an Italian myself rushing through an airport with a screaming child (just kidding our children   only scream when they're happy, so actually it's fine!) with 3 red bags and 3 black or 2 black and 2 white or whatever the Lord chose that day. One thing is for sure, we're going to look as good as possible lugging that crap around.

#2: Hair Rules Our Life... Recently I bought a new carry on and it came with a lovely albeit, much too ginormous makeup container. Maybe it wasn't a makeup conatiner, at all... I don't know. But what  I did was so horrible and unimaginable... I must have been in some kind of major hurry.  I can't imagine the kind of hurry that would have caused this but if you ever meet an Italian... just ask them to take a great big deep breath. I spilled hair remover in the makeup bag. Once we got where we were headed I was ready to jump right out the window when I saw that. Not only that, but what if I had forgotton my flat iron? And my triple action anti-humidity foam jet pump and the re-silkening serum mist?? Eek.

#3: Long on Love, Short on Temper.... No matter who you meet in the world, no matter what culture I believe we're all inherently the same. We aren't perfect. Italian's have a repuation that I know is somewhat true. I think anyytime you love something to any extent, you can become inflamed by it. Often the things we may get inflamed about are different,  but that's what feeds our passion anyway. I refer to our temper as the Italian Spaz Attack... I tend to have them once in awhile and they tend to go like this.... I can't find something, I figure someone moved it, and freak out about it until I eventually find whatever I was looking for and breathe a sigh of relief that I never brought it up. It's taken me years of practice, but I have learned to keep my mouth shut when I feel the Italian Spaz Attack coming on. Perhaps, it's my Swedish side that just tells me to jump out the window that keeps me under control. hahaha.

Awesomely Fantastic Mango Salsa

5 Roma Tomatoes
1 white onion
1/2 green bell pepper
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup cilantro or to taste (i like it hot, obviously)
a dash of garlic
squeeze of half a lime

Let the chopped onion and chopped 1/2 bell pepper sit overnight in the vinegar. Next  day, chop tomatoes, add the onion bell pepper, cilantro, garlic, and lime into a bowl and there it is. Chill in the fridge.

Stop here if you just want boring old pico de gallo.

Now for EXCITEMENT!!!!

1 Mango
2 Kiwi ( unless you have a latex allergy)
1 papaya
1/2 can crushed pineapple

Cut each up in small pieces and soak in vinegar for about 6 hours in the fridge. To make this easier on yourself in the future you could just add the fruit to the onion and bell pepper six hours before you plan on preparing the pico de gallo...but then, it wouldn;t be as EXCITING!!!!!!

Add the fruit after you've got everything sorted out in your head. It will be fine. I promise. The main thing to remember with salsa is to balance the cilantro, garlic, tomato, and lime.... also the vinegar. Just be careful and it will  be very exciting. Good luck and be well. ; )

Style Advice of the Day

Zebra prints look great on everyone... Just look at all the fat zebras running around!!!

The Secret Life of Bullies

My daughter has always been a moving target for bullying. I raised her to be well rounded with a huge vocabulary in a couple different languages even, nurture her talents, raise her as securely as I could in a crazy world, and be well travelled, and be well versed in relating to others. I tried to answer her questions about politics, different religions and the arts as best I could but nothing prepare me to deal with some of the nasty kids she's encountered. I've come to the conclusion that it really has to do with grace. I think every culture, no matter what your background... you can feed your children adversity or you can give them strength.
 The best way to do that is to just nurture differences and not feed into ignorance. Really we are all different and nothing will ever change that. Despite our busy schedules and our reliance on under funded schools to set things straight, it's a parents responsibility to nurture the best you can in your kids and correct yourself if you mess up. Who doesn't mess up once in awhile? No one's perfect... but for every time you can forgive someone or forgive yourself, you're teaching your kid to do the same thing.

Au Naturale - Food for Your Face

The best things for your skin are obvious: drink plenty of water, wear sunscreen, destress your life, sleep on organic million thread count Egyptian count cotton pillow cases, if you have acne get botox and never flatten your entire face with fillers, have orgasms regularly, eat a diet rich in antioxidants and low in animal fat... but here's some of my little homemade conconctions that you can whip up in your kitchen with better results and much less than you'll ever spend on a 1.7 ounce jar of b.s.

Moisture Mask

1/2 avacado
1/4 cup oatmeal
one egg white
3 tablespoons flax seed oil

Mix up and leave on for a few minutes. Rinse off with water.

For Eyes:

Sliced Cucumbers over eyes  for 5 minutes while the mask sets.


Citrus Pore Tightning/ Exfoliator

1/4 grapefruit
1/2 lemon
1 oz. crushed pineapple
1 oz pureed banana

Mix it up, leave it on for a couple minutes. Rinse with water. While face is still damp, dab almond oil over face very lightly to moisturize.