Great Friends!

   We still have no kitchen, so I can't cook anything at home, but we have one very important "thing"... we have great friends in the neighborhood! Obviously, I would not show up in their kitchen to cook the entire three course meal, but I did ask if I could boil some eggs. Not only it's an easy "grab and go" breakfast during the week, but also it allowed me to make an egg salad and break up the freezer meals a little. To make it a little different and add some healthy fats and creaminess, I used avocados. Yes, you guessed it, it's green so Christopher loves it as well!
   It's a perfect dish for "no kitchen" conditions - quick, easy and the most important thing - you don't need to dirty any dishes (paper plate to hold your sandwich is just enough). Did I mention it was easy? Just look at the directions section, it says it all!

Ingredients:

* 10 eggs, hard-boiled, chopped
* 2 avocados, diced
* 2 large pickles, diced
* 2 tbsp sweet relish
*  2 tbsp fresh, chopped parsley
* 1/2 cup mayo
* 1 tbsp yellow mustard
* salt and pepper

Directions:

1.  Combine all the ingredients, mix together, season with salt and pepper and it's ready!

   I really love eggs! A day without an egg is a sad day for me - I need to have it in some form or shape. My men are not as crazy about the eggs as I am, so I always look for creative ways to use them and make them "exciting" and this avocado-egg salad definitely did the trick! They loved it.

Enjoy,
Magda

Freezer friendly!

   So last week I promised you an explanation of why my life is crazy busy recently. Well, here it is: we have no kitchen due to the renovation! Actually we have no kitchen (because we are getting a new one), no family room (because contractors are using it as their storage) and no dining room (because we store our kitchen and family room in it). No kitchen and a toddler - deadly combination, but I keep telling myself it's all going to be worth it at the end when I get my dream kitchen. So since our new sink is in the family room and the stove is in the dining room, there is no cooking happening for the next couple of weeks, but it is not a problem because we still have a big freezer! I was prepping for this renovation for a while, so I made bunch of freezer friendly dishes, portioned them into lunch/dinner sizes and I'm ready!
   First dish out of the freezer - cashew chicken with broccoli and raisins. It may not be the most photogenic dish, but it just came out of the freezer, so let's give it a break!

Ingredients:

* 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces 
* 12oz frozen chopped broccoli
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 8oz cashews
* 1 15oz can of crushed tomatoes
* 2 cups chicken broth
* 1/2 cup raisins
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* salt and pepper 

Directions:

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and brown chicken thighs for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add onions and raisins, season with a little bit of salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and cook for 15 minutes.

3. In a food processor, combine cashews and crushed tomatoes and blend until it forms a smooth paste.

4. Add to the chicken and cook for additional 15-20 minutes, stirring from time to time.

5. If the chicken is tender, add frozen broccoli, adjust seasoning to your liking and cook for additional 5 minutes. Serve over rice.

   Delicious! Tender chicken, sweet raisins and creamy cashew sauce. You can freeze it by itself, you can freeze it together with the rice, or you can just not freeze it at all!

Enjoy,
Magda.

Mixing cheeses!

   It is going to be a super short post - unfortunately life is crazy busy in the last few days (stay tuned for details next week) and I just can't focus on writing an elaborate post, but I at least owe you a recipe! And it's a good one too... two cheese Alfredo pasta with broccoli and peas! Traditional Alfredo sauce has Parmesan cheese only, but why not add some extra creaminess from the cream cheese - I think it's a great idea!

Ingredients:

* 1 lb whole grain pasta of your choice
* 4 tbsp butter
* 3 tbsp all purpose flour
* 1 cup heavy whipping cream
* 2 cups milk
* 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
* 8oz cream cheese
* 2 cups broccoli, cut into small florets
* 1 cup frozen peas
* pinch of nutmeg
* salt

Directions:

1. In a deep skillet, melt butter, add flour and cook for 2 minutes whisking constantly. Slowly add heavy whipping cream and milk, whisking to get rid of any clumps. Season with salt and nutmeg.

2. Add cream cheese and mix everything until it melts into the sauce.

3. Add shredded Parmesan, mix until it melts (2-3 minutes) and add frozen peas.

4. In the meantime cook pasta until al dente and blanch broccoli in boiling water (about 1 minute).

5. Mix pasta, broccoli and cheese together and it's ready to serve!

   Green, creamy and cheesy... perfect combination. It's our family on the plate: broccoli and peas - Christopher's favorite, cheese - Justin's favorite, and of course pasta- mommy's favorite! Well, actually, we all love every ingredient of this dish!

Enjoy,
Magda