Ma What's For Dinner?

Earlier this month the adorable Katie at Sassy Silly Spunky Momma asked me to guest post.  I was so excited as this was my first guest post that wasn’t another recipe site.

I jumped at the chance!

Then…

Panic set in.

As you all know, my blog is all about recipes.  That’s what I usually write about.  Me and the boys in the kitchen whipping up some delight.

All of the sudden I had to be witty and engrossing for someone else?

Ahhh!

The pressure.

As Katie’s blog is not about food I decided to embrace my inner blogger and blog like nobody’s reading…and it was fun, so I thought I’d share it with all of you.  Care to join me?

Have your ever heard the saying “to dance like nobody’s watching?”  The first time I heard it I loved it.  Really loved it.  I thought, yes of course, that is how everyone should live their lives, not caring what anyone thinks, and then I remembered that I have never ever in my entire life not cared what anyone thinks.  I was always the girl in high school concerned about her appearance, about what people thought, about how pretty I looked, how smart I came across, how popular I was, yadda yadda yadda.  It was exhausting.  In college, it was no better.  I was constantly concerned with my grades, my friends, my reputation.  And even now, you will NOT catch me in a bathing suit.  But at the end of the day, who on earth am I trying to impress?  My husband adores me, my kids love me no matter what?  What is all this about?  Why can’t I just dance like nobody is watching?

So a few days ago I go to my first Zumba class.  Yes it’s totally ridiculous and it’s a bunch of old ladies and young hot teeny boppers jumping around an aerobic studio but when I don’t feel like torturing myself for 45 minutes on a treadmill sweating with the masses is my happy alternative.  See, I’m not a dancer, I never was a dancer.  I was a gymnast for a while, but graceful I was not!  I believe my nickname was “froggy legs.”  Anyway, I remember taking some modern dance classes somewhere around junior high and always being the worst one in the class sort of got to me after a while, so I quit.  I’m not exactly coordinated when it comes to choreography.

But you know what?  When you just can’t take another kickboxing or pilates mat class you just gotta step it up right?  So look out Pasha and Anya (uh, that’s a SYTYCD reference for those of you who actually have lives and aren’t attached to your TVs) here comes Alex.

OH EM GEE!  Well I almost killed the poor old lady next to me during some samba shimmy sashay thing but I survived it.  But what struck me during the whole thing was that I couldn’t take my eyes off this woman in the front.

Let’s call her, Sally.

Well, Sally looks like life may have not been the easiest for her.  She’s in her early 30’s, as homely as all get out, she’s sort of a big girl, she’s got the big oversized glasses and if she was a dude she’d be wearing a pocket protecter.

Let’s put it this way, if I was back in high school, we would not have asked her to sit at our lunch table (and yes, as an adult I now know that’s wrong, but that’s a whole other post.)

Anyway, Sally pretty much screams dork.  But there she is, front and center, right in front of the mirror, right next to that tiny little energizer bunny of an instructor…Sally is hard to miss.  And she’s moving before they even turn the music on.  I sort of giggle to myself and the music gets going.

Ok, these people don’t waste anytime.  We’re moving and grooving and I’m trying to pick up and place my feet like a billion times faster than any kickboxing class.  Oh and apparantly there are all these muscles in the hip area that I clearly haven’t used in decades, much to my hubs dismay.

But then there’s Sally…she’s a machine, she’s sweating and adding hops and getting her swerve on!  Now, her dancing skills are not better than mine, and we’ve already established that is not saying much, but you know what?

SHE DOESN’T CARE.

SALLY IS HAVING A BLAST.

And her reckless abandon is making me care a bit less about how stupid I look, and I assure you I did look stupid, but suddenly I’m adding a bit of swagger, I’m adding a little roll, I’m tossing in the sexy arms, and I’m having a blast.  Suddenly I’m dancing a fool, even if there are a bunch of college cheerleaders behind me, I mean really?  Cheerleaders?

I learned a valuable lesson at Zumba.  And I can’t wait to go back.

So thank you, Sally.

Thank you for helping me get over myself…

For helping me learn to live a bit…

For helping me let go a bit.

Thank you for teaching me to dance like nobody is watching.

If you’re a fan of So You Think You Can Dance, and we’ve already established that I am and I don’t, then you know that tomorrow, Saturday July 31st, is National Dance Day.  It is supposed to include a variety of dance-themed activities for people of all ages. It will empower, challenge and inspire everyone to try various styles of dance ranging from hip-hop to ballroom to anything that moves. Above all, it will encourage everyone to DANCE as a means to stay fit and be healthy.  I’ll be at a zumba class.  What will you be doing?  And will you do with as much passion as Sally?

Hello there! If you’re here from the Friday blog hops welcome welcome! Please leave me a note that you were here so I can get back to you this weekend!

I’m just going to come right out and say this…This is not a meal for the kiddos. This is a put the kids to bed early, pour yourself a glass of vino, light some candles, and pick up a movie date night dinner for you and your sweetie. These are the kinds of dinners you need from time to time, ya know what I mean?

This is a date night dinner by a different Alex. It’s by Alex Guarnaschelli, she’s the host of the Food Network’s Alex’s Day Off, oh yeah, you know I’m going to like a show called that. Anyway I watched her make it and while it took me a couple of hours I followed her recipe word for word, and if you’ve been following along, you know that NEVER happens. Yes I do have recipe ODC.  But this was a good one.  Trust me, it’s a really  good one. What is it?

Skillet Fried Pizza with Roasted Mushrooms and Charred Broccoli Rabe Pesto recipe courtesy of the other Alex
Pizza:

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast 1 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees F)
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting and rolling
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 scant tablespoon honey

Pesto:

1 pound broccoli rabe, washed and the ends trimmed
8 to 10 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
2 teaspoons paprika
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan
1/2 cup basil leaves, stemmed, washed and dried
Mushrooms: 1 pound white button mushrooms, washed and the stems trimmed
Salt
Garlic powder
1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

For the dough: In a bowl, combine the yeast and warm water. Stir to dissolve the yeast and allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes. Using a sieve or strainer, “sift” about half of the flour over the yeast mixture and blend until smooth with your hands. Add the salt, pepper and honey and mix to blend. Sift in the remaining flour and mix to blend. Lightly flour a cutting board or flat surface. Turn the pizza dough onto the floured area and knead for 3 to 5 minutes. The flour should feel smooth and the ingredients fully integrated. Add the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it “rest” in a warm place until it has doubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours. Press gently on the dough and turn it onto a floured surface. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts, rolling each quarter into a loose ball. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow the dough to “rest” for an additional 15 minutes. Flatten each ball, 1 at a time, and roll into a 6-inch round. Make the pesto: In a medium bowl, add the broccoli rabe, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and salt and the paprika to taste; stir to combine. Heat a large saute pan over high heat and add the broccoli. Keep the heat high, allowing it to brown and char on the edges. When the broccoli rabe is tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, remove from the heat and allow it to cool. Put the broccoli rabe on a cutting board and finely chop. Transfer to a bowl. Put the garlic through a garlic press and add to the bowl. Stir in the Parmesan, 2 more tablespoons of the olive oil and the basil leaves. Taste for seasoning. Cook the mushrooms: In another saute pan, over medium heat, add the mushrooms and a tablespoon of the olive oil. Season with salt and garlic powder, to taste. Cook until they release their water, 8 to 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a cast iron skillet, large enough to hold a pizza round, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil begins to smoke lightly, shut the heat off under the skillet and add 1 of the pizza rounds. Use a spatula to press gently on the top of the round to keep it relatively flat as it cooks. When you see it is slightly brown on the underside, season the top lightly with salt and pepper and flip the round to its second side. Season with salt and pepper. Repeat with remaining dough. Finish the pizzas: Arrange all of the browned rounds on baking sheets and layer with the mozzarella slices, broccoli rabe pesto and a sprinkling of mushrooms. Bake in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese melts. Season with salt and serve.

I loved this dish.  I really loved it.  I knew I couldn’t get the munchkins to go for it because let’s be honest, the whole damn thing is green.  Also broccoli rabe tends to be a bit bitter and coupled with the mushrooms, well, let’s just say I figured I’d be making them a PB&J if I put this one in front of them.  That makes it all the more special to share it with just the hubs…Happy Date Night!

I’m sorry I’ve been a bit quiet this week. I’m sort of feeling under the weather. I wanted to apologize to you all for my lack of commenting back and my late posts. I’m hoping to be back in action tomorrow with a great put the kids to bed early and have a great date night dinner at home. Wait’ll you see it. I actually followed a recipe and even baked a bit!

In the meantime I’m posting the reason that I’m not feeling better already…seems that these things make it a bit difficult to get some rest.

Ahh, the joys of motherhood.

As many of you know we just moved to the Northeast from my home town of LA, CA.  Being a bred a So Cal girl, anytime I’m back east I immediately begin to crave some good ol’ Mexican food.  Oh, yes, I love me some spicy hometown grub.  Sadly, since we now live here year round that means I’m usually out of luck.  Now if you’re familiar with the East then you know, it’s really really hard to find good authentic Mexican food here.  Even the Tex-Mex is suspect.  Here in CT, the options are downright bleak.

See I love the good ol’ fashioned, hole in the wall, homemade salsa so spicy you’ll have heartburn for a week but it’s worth it, kind of places.  All I have here is a Taco Bell, and a bunch of terrible places with names like Caliente Rico’s or the like.  Needless to say, I’m dying.  So what do the kids and I do when we’ve already had Fitz Family Taco Night three times this month and we don’t feel like another run for the border???  We switch things up to a fabulous Chicken Ole Casserole!

Here’s what you’ll need.

3 chicken breasts cooked and chopped

3 whole wheat tortillas

2 cups tortilla chips

1 onion chopped

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 T cumin

1/2 T corriander

1/2 T chili powder

1/4 T cayenne pepper

1/2 T dried oregano

S&P

1 can red enchilada sauce

1 can olives

1 can diced green chiles

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat your oven to 375.  In a large bowl combine chicken, sour cream, mayonnaise, cumin, corriander, chili powder, cayenne pepper, S&P and oregano.  Mix well.  Line the bottom of a baking dish with tortillas.  Add a layer of your chicken mixture, next a layer of half of your green chiles and half your olives.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Add a layer of half of your tortilla chips. Repeat the layer process with the remaining ingredients.  Pour the enchilada sauce on top.

Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional five minutes.  Remove from oven and serve with sour cream, diced scallion and tomato.

This does the trick and takes care of our cravings for the southwest.  Sometime you just have to take matters into your own hands…Ole!

Are there any foods that you can’t find in your area that you really miss?

Sangies…Ahhh, the sangie.  Oh how I love the sangie.  See back in the day, oh gosh, it’s waaaay back in the day now, when I was beating the streets in Beantown during college I used to frequent this great little pizzeria called T. Anthony’s.

It was the best!

The kind of place that kept a tab for you when you didn’t have any money, the kind of place that forgave your tab when you really had no money, the kind of place that can spot your little brother and give him a slice a pizza when he comes to visit you in a snow storm even though they’ve never met him before.

It’s the kind of place where everybody who works there has been there since they were born and everyone knows your name and what you want to eat before you’ve even ordered it.

It’s kind of like Cheers, but with food.

Anyway there was this guy, we’ll call him Tony, and he was this big ol’ italian guy who worked the day shift and he used to get me my coffee and bagels in the morning and he’d make us our sandwiches at lunch time.  I was partial to their chicken salad with honey mustard, OH EMM GEE!!!!  But when Tony would call you when your sandwich was up he’d say “Hey Al, your saaaangwich is ready.”  It was so weird.  And he’d always ask if you wanted “onjuns” on it.  That’s onions to you and me.

So henceforth all sandwiches in college became Sangies.  Even the “Jean Sangie”  in which we not so affectionately referred to the denim sandwich look of denim jeans on the bottom and a denim shirt on top.  Oh jeez, don’t get me going on the fashion choices of the early to mid 90s!  Reverse fit jeans and half boots anyone?  Why did I spend my hot 20s years wearing mom jeans???  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller????

Ok, so here it is my recipe to use up those leftover meatballs.  This one’s for you Tony…”Al, your Meatball Saaaangwich is up.  You want onjuns?”

MAma Mia Meatballs recipe

4 hoagie rolls

1 T spreadable butter (or margarine)

2 t garlic powder

1/2 cup marinara sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

basil leaves

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Open up your hoagie rolls and spread evenly with butter and sprinkle on your garlic powder.  Toss open faced into your oven for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile heat up your meatballs.  Truth be told I totally do this in the microwave.  It’s easier and faster.  Okay, once their are warm get your bread out of the oven and build your sangie.  Bread, little bit of sauce, meatballs, cheese…repeat.  Place them on a baking dish and stick under the broiler until the cheese gets nice and melty.  Top with basil leaves and serve.  And onjuns if you want.

Thanks Tony!