Lime Fajita Bowl

Whenever we go to Chipotle, we get the chicken burrito bowl. It's loaded with vegetables and fresh salsa and guacamole, and we skip the fat that's in the tortilla. (Not that I'm above eating a good, thick tortilla every now and then, because I'm not!) Today's meal was born from the burrito bowl concept, and I could not love it any more. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: It's ridiculous how happy a good meal makes me. I'm pretty sure this one will make you happy too. :)


As usual, my proportions aren't huge, so you may want to double it if you're feeding more than, say, three adults.

Marinate the following for at least 1 hour:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
juice and zest of 2 limes
1/4 cup canola oil
half of a packet of Italian seasoning
1 onion, cut into rings
1 green bell pepper, sliced

Salad ingredients:
3 leaves of romaine lettuce, sliced into small pieces
1-2 tomatoes, diced
half a bunch of cilantro
1 small onion, diced
1 avocado (to make a simple guacolole)
1 lime
half a can of black beans, rinsed

• After marinating, grill the chicken and vegatables. (We have a grill attachment that is more like a skillet. If you don't have something similar, you may have to saute the veggies over the oven, but that's okay too!) Once cooked, let the chicken cool for a few minutes, and then slice.

• Assemble salad ingredients in a serving bowl. Layer on sliced chickn and grilled onions & peppers. Warm up black beans in microwave; add to salad. Toss.

• Make a simple guacomole by smashing avocado and adding lime juice and salt and pepper. (Or use store-bought guacolmole.) Spoon guacomole over the top. (Add sour cream or grated cheese if you wish.) Squeeze one lime over the top of the salad.
  

This is a super healthy meal that is absolutely packed with flavor—the smokiness of the grill and the brightness of the lime juice. If you try it, please let me know what you think!

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Bars

Hi all! Things are going well here. I'm happy to report that I am loving having two kids. Baby C is already two months old and remains a very content baby. Toddler T has more energy than I know what to do with, but I am loving this stage. He's 20 months old and makes us laugh all the time with the things he does and the words he picks up. Aren't they handsome?



Now on to my second favorite subject . . . Dessert! This is a new favorite of mine. Confession: I made it twice in one week. My only excuse is that both times I gave some of it away.

My husband can be picky about his sweets. I have a serious sweet tooth that requires a lot of curbing, but sweets don't tempt him like they do me. (Lucky man.) But this cookie bar did him in. They are just like their name describes—thick and chewy, with a slightly crispy exterior. I was only able to snap a couple of photos before my camera died, so check out more photos here at Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Don't let this unassuming cookie bar fool you. Seriously, so yummy!

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Bars

From Mel's Kitchen Cafe (Thank you again, Melanie!)

2 1/8 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly
1 cup (7 ounces) light brown sugar
1/2 (3 1/2 ounces) cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips (use your preference of semisweet, bittersweet, milk, white, peanut butter…the options are endless!)

Preheat the oven to 325. Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position. Line a 9X13-inch baking pan with foil, letting the excess hang over the edges of the pan by about 1 inch so you can grab those edges and pull the brownies from the pan after they have baked. Spray the foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside. Whisk the melted butter and sugars in a large bowl until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips and turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula.

Bake until the top of the bars is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan, 24-28 minutes. (It took 31-32 minutes in my oven) Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Remove the bars from the pan by lifting the foil overhang and transfer them to a cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Baby C

I dropped off the chart there for a bit...I've been a little busy welcoming this handsome guy into the world! He's almost two weeks old, he's sleeping better than I had dared hope at this age, and he is just a generally easygoing boy!

Hope all is well with each of you! I'll be back soon - I can't wait to get back in the kitchen!

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

This is a no-fail recipe for frozen yogurt that is sure to please. It's really creamy, just slightly tart, and would make a great base for some creative mix-ins or toppings.


I got this recipe from 101 Cookbooks, and she says it rivals Pinkberry's frozen yogurt. I can't say since I've never had it, but I will say that I loved the recipe. Hop over here for details.

I Love This Lasagna

It's painful to put this photo up, but without any natural light, this was the best I could do. Oh well! You all know what lasagna looks like anyways!

I was DELIGHTED with how this recipe turned out. Seriously, it was kind of pathetic how happy it made me. But there's little worse in my book than spending an afternoon making a rather elaborate dinner only to have it flop. Thank goodness, that was not the case yesterday!



I chose this recipe because it earned 5 stars from 272 reviewers on foodnetwork.com. Thank you, Ina Garden, for a restaurant-quality lasagna minus the joy (read: hassle) of trying to entertain the toddler while at said restaurant. :)

Turkey Lasagna
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in tomato puree
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound lasagna noodles
15 ounces ricotta cheese
3 to 4 ounces creamy goat cheese, crumbled
1 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Preheat to 400 degrees.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up, for 8 to 10 minutes or until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, the basil, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat, for 15 to 20 minutes, until thickened.

Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with the hottest tap water. Add the noodles and allow them to sit in the water for 20 minutes. Drain. (Or skip this and use no boil noodles!!)

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, goat cheese, 1 cup of Parmesan, the egg, the remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

Ladle 1/3 of the sauce into a 9x12 baking dish, spreading the sauce over the bottom of the dish. Then add the layers as follows: half the pasta, half the mozzarella, half the ricotta, and one 1/3 of the sauce. Add the rest of the pasta, mozzarella, ricotta, and finally, sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling.

My alterations:

• Do yourself a favor and use no-boil noodles. It makes lasagna so much easier!
  
• Despite the name, Turkey Lasanga, mine didn't actually have any turkey in it... I had ground beef and spicy Italian sausage on hand, so that's what I used. I liked the slight kick the spicy sausage gave it, and I also added a 1/4 red pepper flakes.
  
• 1 1/2 pounds would be plenty of meat for this dish. I reduced to a pound and was happy I did.
  
• I used shredded mozzarella instead of fresh (convenience). No regrets.
• Though the recipe is meant for a 9x13 pan, I divided mine into two disposable 8x8 pans, one of which I froze for when the baby comes. (Yay!)
  

Cherry Bar

I'm shocked I've never posted this before, as it is one of my go-to desserts. It's not exactly New Year's resolution friendly...well, unless your resolution is to eat well and live it up! But it is sweet, rich, and slightly tart; it's perfect for bringing to an event because it feeds (and pleases) a crowd; and it can be made ahead of time. If you're really lucky, you may even be able to bring a piece home afterward!


Cherry Bar
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 eggs
4 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cans cherry pie filling
1 teaspoon almond extract.

Cream butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla and eggs. Stir in dry ingredients. Spread a thin layer of batter in the bottom of a baking sheet. Combine cherry pie filling and almond extract. Layer the cherry mixture over the batter. Top with remaining batter and spread as evenly as possible. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, or until lightly gold on top.

Allow to cool in baking sheet. In the meantime combine the following icing ingredients:

2 Tablespoons melted butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 Tablespoons milk

Poor the icing over the cherry bar once it has cooled. Slice and serve!

Cheesy Baked Faralle

One of my New Year's resolutions is to be a more efficient cook. With the second baby on the way, my meals are going to have to get streamlined if I'm going to have a chance of getting dinner on the table. I don't know how all you moms with big families do it! Hopefully I'll get the hang of it with practice.


So I was happy to see how few steps are in this recipe by the Food Network's Giada. Plus, it's delicious—a lightly creamy red sauce, thanks to the addition of mascarpone cheese, with gooey smoked mozzarella on top. It was perfect for taking to a friend who just had a baby because I could make it during T's naptime, stick it in the fridge, and take it to her cold so that she can pop it in the oven whenever she feels like it. Easy breezy.

Cheesy Baked Farfalle
Adapted from Giada's Cheesy Baked Tortellini

2 cups marinara sauce
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 pound farfalle pasta
1 cup mozarella cheese, grated
1 cup smoked mozarella cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8 x 8 by baking dish.

Cook the farfalle in a large pot of water for about 7-8 minutes. (You want to leave it slightly undercooked because it will bake in the oven.) Drain well. Whisk together the sauce, mascarpone cheese, parsley and thyme. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top the mixture with the smoked mozzarella and regular mozarella.

Cover with foil and bake for about 10 minutes. Remove the foil and let cook until the cheese bubbles and is slightly golden, about another 10 minutes.

Good News for Pizza Lovers!

The other day, a friend told me she had successfully baked her homemade pizza on parchment paper—which entirely eliminated the oh-so-awkward transfer of the pizza from the peel to the stone. Of course, I couldn't resist trying it immediately, so I did, and (drumroll please) she was right!


Preheat oven to 425. Simply spread some parchment paper over your pizza peel, sprinkle cornmeal, roll out the dough, and add toppings. Roughly trim the edges of the paper to about an inch from the crust, creating a circle instead of a square of parchment paper underneath the dough. Then relish the ease with which you slide the pizza onto the preheated stone!

The only disadvantage is that you can't crank the oven up as high, because parchment paper isn't meant to be heated above 425. But especially if you place the stone on the bottom rack, you should have no problem getting a nice, crispy crust nonetheless.

Just so no one sues me if the parchment paper somehow ignites in your oven, please keep an eye on it the first time you try this. Don't throw the pizza in the oven and leave for 40 minutes. (But really, who would do that??)

Jamba Juice's Blackberry Bliss?

I can't claim this is exact, but I don't think you'll miss the resemblance in flavor when you try it. The Blackberry Bliss is my husband's favorite at Jamba right now, so we had to give it a whirl at home. Plus, what's better is that it's WAY healthier! Thanks to the spinach and ground flax (which you won't notice!), you won't even feel guilty slurping this baby down!


First, puree the following in your blender:
2 cups spinach
1/2 cup water

Add the following, and begin pulsing.
1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries
1/2 cups frozen mixed berries
6 blackberries
1/2 cup pineapple
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup sugar (plus a couple of Tablespoons, depending on how sweet you like it.)
3 Tablespoons ground flax

Lastly, add water and blend to get the smoothie to the right consistency (I'll say about 3/4 cup, added gradually. But that will depend on whether all of your fruit was frozen or not.)

Let me know what you think!

Maybe this will help negate all the nutella I've eaten lately...

Hot Chocolate

Happy Sunday! I made sugar cookies tonight. Someone please remind me next time I want to make them to just wait until my kids are old enough to enjoy it. The millions of steps with a clingy, grabby toddler is just not worth it! I was amazed at how many cookies that kid managed to stick his hands in, even when I thought they were out of reach! (He also somehow grabbed my cell phone and threw it squarely into a freshly frosted cookie...but hey, that's just life with a toddler!)

So, as chilly weather is slowly but surely coming my way, I am elated the hot chocolate season is beginning! My new obsession is perfecting the art of GREAT hot chocolate. We used to frequent Hatch's Family Chocolates in Salt Lake City and the South Bend Chocolate Cafe when we lived in South Bend, Indiana. Their hot chocolates taste like straight-up melted European chocolate. (None of this Hershey's stuff.) Mmmmmm!

Thank you, Google Images, for the photo. It was too dark to take a photo of my concoction last night.

So far, this is what I've learned about making fabulous homemade hot cocoa.

1. Start with a chunk of GREAT chocolate. We just bought a few ounces of Gittuird __ at our beloved Milk Pail in Palo Alto. (Amazingly, the chocolate cost $1.45) Cut the chocolate into small pieces.
   
2. Put milk and chocolate slivers in a small saucepan—about 1 ounce of chocolate per cup of milk. Add a couple of T. sugar, depending on your sweetness preference.
   
3. Heat milk until it is hot but not bubbling. Stir frequently.
   
4. Toward the end, add a bunch of mini marshmallows and allow them to melt partially so the cocoa gets good and frothy!
   
5. Serve with a cinnamon stick for stirring. Enjoy!
   

And as a side note... It's a boy!

Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce

...with an announcement on the side!


Hi everyone! I can't tell you how much I've missed frequently updating this blog...But there's not a lot I can do because nothing I can make ever sounds good and what I do make usually doesn't turn out. If you don't already know, I'm expecting again! We are excited!

My pregnancy has been nothing to complain about by any means, but I so miss COOKING! I scour food blogs for meals that sound good, but rarely does something strike my fancy. Interestingly, all food outside of this house sounds delicious... As long as I don't have to make it or clean it up, I'm happy! Maybe I should turn this blog into a restaurant review blog for the rest of my pregnancy...

BUT, fall is my favorite season for cooking and baking, so maybe my tastes buds will start being my friends again soon. :)

Even with all that said, this homemade applesauce hit the spot!


Cinnamon Applesauce
7 apples, peeled, cored and diced (I used 5 Mackintosh and 2 Honeycrisp)
1 cup (or less) water
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Combine all ingredients, and let simmer on medium heat, covered, for about 15 minutes, or until apples are tender. Stir about every five minutes. Mash with a whisk when finished cooking, and enjoy!

A few tips:

• The sweeter the apples, the less sugar you have to use. Talk to your produce man!
• I suggest starting with less than a cup of water and seeing if you need more as the cooking goes on. Who wants watery applesauce??
• As you can see from the pic, I like my applesauce to taste and look homemade, which is why I leave some rustic chunks in. Mash to your desired consistency. :)
  

Kitchen Tip: Baked Chimichangas

New and healthier cooking method! Baked Chimichangas! It's a simple but pretty sweet idea. Why didn't I do this earlier?? Simply wrap the chimis like you normally do, lay them on the baking sheet, and brush lightly with canola oil. Then bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, or until golden and crispy.

Check out that photo—Can you even tell it's not fried?

Cheers for lower cholesterol!

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula

While I'm on a tomato/basil kick, I might as well go all the way and share another favorite. This is a simple, light meal you can make the next time you get home from a farmers' market. Click on over to this New York Times recipe. Try using Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta for extra fiber—it's available all over the place. Thanks for stopping by!

PS. I forgot the arugula today, which is why isn't not in the photo. :)

Balsamic Bruschetta

The best thing I've bought all summer was a $2.99 basil plant at Trader Joe's. Just looking at it on the patio makes me happy. We've had some fabulous margarita pizza and bruschetta since the basil plant joined the family.

Don't you just love bruschetta?? Basil, tomatoes, and garlic on french bread—what's not to love? This is a great, simple recipe that is a snap to make yet tastes so fresh and flavorful that you won't stop eating until the bowl is clean.

Balsamic Bruschetta
from allrecipes.com

8 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 loaf French bread, toasted and sliced

Combine everything, toast the bread, and enjoy! Rub the toasted bread with a cut clove of garlic and drizzle with a little olive oil for some extra flavor. If you let the bruschetta sit in the fridge for an hour or two, it will taste even better.

Chili Frito Pie

A great way to eat chili.


Did anyone else grow up on chili frito pie? Seriously, I'm curious! I haven't made this in a long time, but tonight Ryan was working late and I felt like cuddling up with something warm and homey. Few things take me back to my growing up years like chili frito pie.

My mom makes a super-simple, weeknight chili that only involves 5 ingredients: browned hamburger, diced white onion, a can of ranch style beans, a small can of tomato sauce, and a tablespoon or so of chili powder. The secret ingredient is the ranch style beans—This simple can is full of spices (chili peppers, garlic salt, onion powder, paprika, etc.), meaning it does all the work for you.

But even if you never try this oh-so-easy chili, definitely be sure to make the pie—Layer fritos, chili, cheese, and onions, and enjoy!

Birthday Cake Goodness

I apologize for my absence. It's summer—everyone deserves some vacation! I'll post soon about my son's birthday cake. Thanks for visiting!