vegetable sushi roll

Over the weekend I had my first attempt at making sushi. It was fantastic and surprisingly easy! I followed this recipe for the rice though I wish I hadn't as it didn't call for enough water and the rice was slightly undercooked. I should have followed the directions on the rice bag (duh!) as it called for a half cup more water.

I bought my supplies at a local asian market. Everything was very inexpensive and the man running the store was very kind to give me some sushi making tips; wrap the bamboo mat completely with plastic wrap. Lay out an even layer of rice and press down firmly. Keep a bowl of water near by, rice won't stick to wet fingers.

Lay a sheet of nori paper over the rice and add your filings of choice. I made mine with carrots, cucumber, green beans and avocado. Seems like a strange combination but it was delicious! I, personally, wouldn't use raw fish when making sushi at home. It makes me nervous.

Once you have layed out the filling, start with the edge closest to you and roll as tightly as possible.

Roll your roll in sesame seeds.

Using a very sharp knife slice your roll, wiping the knife between each cut.

Serve with soy sauce, wasabi and sriracha hot chili sauce. Enjoy!

Have you made sushi before? What are your favorite combinations of fillings?

spinach and mushroom lasagna

Michael requested this dinner for Father's Day and I am glad he did! It had been a while since I had made it and it's one of my favorites. I modified a lasagna recipe from allrecipes.com to my tastes, basically increasing the mushrooms, quadrupling the spinach (I super-duper love spinach!), decreasing the amount of cheese and substituting no boil noodles. I seriously love no boil noodles, they make making lasagna a breeze!


spinach lasagna
12 no boil lasagna noodles
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped baby bella mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
10 ounces (8-9 packed cups) fresh spinach
3 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 egg
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3 cups tomato pasta sauce
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook mushrooms, onions, and garlic in olive oil until onions are tender. Drain excess liquid and cool. Boil spinach for 5 minutes. Drain, then squeeze out excess liquid. Chop spinach.
4. Combine ricotta cheese, Romano cheese, spinach, salt, oregano, basil, pepper, and egg in a bowl. Add cooled mushroom mixture. Blend together. Spread 1 cup sauce on bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Lay four lasagna noodles on top of sauce. Spread one third of the cheese/spinach mixture over noodles. Sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese on top. Spread 1 cup spaghetti sauce over cheese. Repeat layering 2 times. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and the parmesan cheese.
5. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour. Cool 30+ minutes before serving.

week of quinoa: the wrap up

I had to end the week of quinoa a little earlier than planned. The quinoa was making everyone a little gassy. Which, actually, isn't a problem all that much. We eat a lot of beans and broccoli and other gassy legumes & vegetables. The problem is that I am breast feeding and the gassiness was starting to affect Gemma. I am sad since I loved everything I had made so far and still had many recipes that I wanted to try. I will wait and try again in a few months. In the meantime, here are all the recipes I had on my list to make- there is way more than a weeks worth! Some are from you, dear readers, a few are from my mom and others I found online.

oven chimichangas (use quinoa in place of the brown rice)
chicken with quinoa and veggies
zucchini with quinoa stuffing
quiona stuffed peppers
sweet potato and lentil packets (serve with quinoa)
creamy quinoa primavera
italian broccoli and quinoa pilaf
quinoa pudding
walnut rosemary quinoa
quinoa with apricots and pecans
toasted quinoa salad with scallops and snow peas (I would substitute shrimp for the scallops)
warm quinoa salad with toasted almonds

So, go cook and eat some delicious and healthy quinoa! If there is a recipe that you particularly enjoy please let me know.

week of quinoa: quinoa burgers

Recipe for quinoa burgers can be found here.

I realized as I was typing the post that I messed these burgers up a little. The recipe says to "pulse mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped" I totally missed this step and left the mushrooms in small chunks. I think that is why my burgers were a little crumby. They still tasted great though!

I would definitely make these again. They require a little more work than just making patties out of ground beef but they are yummy and much healthier! I wouldn't serve them to the kids again though, they hated it. Liam was the only one that eat any and that was only after he picked out all the visible pieces of mushroom.

Served with the best ever oven fries. Recipe here.

week of quinoa: quinoa and black beans

You guys are the best! I can't wait to try all these great recipes you've suggested!

quinoa and black beans

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cloves minced garlic

3/4 cup uncooked quinoa

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon ground cumin

dash of cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 avocado, peeled, seeded and diced

1 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 small chicken breasts, grilled and diced. I seasoned the chicken with a little garlic powder, cumin and S&P.

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned add quinoa and brown slightly. Add broth and seasonings. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Stir in the tomatoes, avocado, black beans, chicken and cilantro.

My husband and I loved this recipe! It was filling without being heavy and it tasted great. It actually reminded us of eating a burrito bowl from Chipotle. The kids weren't excited about it but once they had picked out the ingredients they refuse to eat (tomato and avocado for Liam, black beans and tomatoes for Sutton) they ate everything on their plates.

This is a one pot meal, which I love. It was also quick to make. I served it as the main dish so there wasn't much leftover. Next time I will double it so the husband and I can eat it for lunch the day after.

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com (but is really similar to recipes Erin Jackson and Courtnay mentioned in the comments section of the quinoa post) but I made a few changes. Mainly adding tomatoes, avocado and chicken. With the beans and the quinoa the chicken is not needed to make a full meal but like the quinoa and orzo from yesterday I was trying to ease the kids into this new food. Next time I think I will leave the chicken out to make a vegetarian meal.

spinach and artichoke savory bread pudding

Last Saturday I bought a bag of ciabatta rolls from Costco. Sadly, they were totally stale and hard- horrible for sandwiches which had been my purpose in buying the rolls. I knew I could return them and get my money back but it seemed like a waste because I knew they would just throw them away. I did a little googling and decided to make this savory bread pudding since I had all the ingredients on hand.


When I told Michael what we were having for dinner he actually said "Ewww". First time in 11 years the man has ewww-ed anything I made (well before actually tasting it anyway!). He also said "Don't tell the children the name of this dinner or they will never eat it". I didn't really hold much hope that they would eat it no matter what I called it since it has spinach and artichokes- two things they won't touch!

It was so yummy. Sort of like a fancy stuffing. Everyone ate it and even more miraculously everyone liked it! Granted the kids picked out most of the spinach but they didn't get it all. Which means they got some actual nutrients. Score!

I made a couple of adjustments:
1. I halved the recipe and still had leftovers (most of which I just ate for lunch). I imagine the full recipe makes a TON.
2. I didn't use brie. I used some other fancy cheese that I paid too much for (anyone else notice the price of diary skyrocketing lately?) but I think pretty much any cheese would be good.
3. I used half and half in place of the heavy cream.

minestrone soup: a perfect snowy day lunch

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Was it just a couple of weeks ago that I blogged about spring like weather? Well, as expected, it was short lived. It snowed here on Saturday. We had lots of fun playing in the snow (for about ten minutes and then I was done). When it is cold all I want to eat is soup. Using what I had on hand I made this recipe up and it was DELICIOUS and easy!


erin's minestrone soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small to medium onion, diced
4 carrots, cut into half moon shapes
2 zucchini, diced
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed (puree half the beans before adding to the soup, this is a great way to thicken the soup. it is cheap, easy and healthy)
2 14 ounce cans diced tomatoes, not drained
4 cups water
1/2 cup tiny pasta (orzo, acini di pepe or similar)
1-2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
parmesan cheese for garnishing

1. saute garlic and onion and butter and oil, 2 minutes. add zucchini and carrotts. continue to saute until vegetable are just starting to get tender about 10 minutes.
2. add seasonings, tomatoes, beans, water and pasta. bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

serve, topped with parmesan cheese.

I made this bread recipe to go along with the soup. It was easy, quick and yummy!

***The book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was a gift from a dear friend. It is a fantastic book, I highly recommend it.

lentil tacos

for the last year or so, in an effort to more fully live the Word of Wisdom and save money, my family has eaten more vegetarian meals. lentil tacos is one of our favorites. we eat it at least once a week. lentils have a lot of health benefits. read more about them here. they are also very inexpensive-- i get mine at wal-mart for $0.99 for a 16 oz bag. can't beat that!

i don't really measure when making this so the amounts are estimates. increase or decrease the amounts as your tastes desire.

lentil tacos
3/4 cup of lentils (rinsed and pick out the bad ones)
1/2 medium onion diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of taco seasoning
1-2 teaspoons of cumin
4-6 cups of water

saute garlic and onion in a little olive oil. add lentils and seasonings, stir. add water simmer until lentils are tender (adding more water as needed) about 30-40 minutes. once the lentils are cooked i prefer to mash mine a little using a potato masher. serve in a tortilla with your favorite toppings. serves 6+.

i realize that this picture doesn't look very appetizing... but i guess a bowl of ground meat wouldn't either.