Happy Valentines Day!!!

Happy Valentines Day!!! Here are my special Valentines - I love them so:

Slow Cooker Ginger-Soy Short Ribs Green Rice with Lime

I made this a few weeks ago. I got the recipe from Food Network - it is one of Robin Miller's dishes.
It was easy to make and pretty tasty. It does need maybe a little extra flavor added to it. Not sure what that would be or would you marinate the short ribs? The rice was very tasty and a great accompaniment to the short ribs.

4 carrots, chopped
2 leeks, rinsed well and chopped
3 pounds bone-in beef short ribs, fat trimmed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup reduced-sodium beef broth
1/3 cup sherry
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups instant brown rice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup chopped scallions
2 tablespoons minced pickled jalapenos
1 teaspoon lime zest
Directions
Heat a large Dutch oven and arrange carrots and leeks on the bottom. Season ribs all over with salt and pepper and place over vegetables. In a medium bowl, whisk together broth, sherry, soy sauce, honey, vinegar, ginger, and garlic. Pour mixture over ribs. Cover and braise for 3 to 4 hours. This can also be done in a slow cooker - just cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Cook rice according to package directions.

While still hot, stir in cilantro, scallions, jalapenos, and lime zest. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve half of the rice with the ribs (and carrots and leeks) and reserve extra rice for another meal.

Coins For Haiti

Mira came home about a week ago from school with a piece of paper stating her school is going to raise money for Haiti. A group of students came up with the idea to collect coins every day and bring them to school. Each day had a specific coin to bring: Mon = pennies, Tues= nickels, Wed =dimes, Thurs = quarters and Friday= anything. you wanted to bring.
Mira went to her room got her huge piggy bank and dumped it out. Each day she would gather her coins and put them in an envelope to give to school the following day. She was so excited to partake in such a good cause.
Wednesday night she started to collect her quarters. I told her to put them in fours and then we can figure out how many she has. She came running over to me and said mom look the line of quarters is sooo long. I had her count them and she had $34 in quarters. I was amazed that she had that many quarters in her piggy bank but even more amazed that she did not even think twice donate all the quarters to HAITI.
I was so proud of her all week gathering her coins and giving most of the money in piggy bank to Haiti. Her school raised over $1250!



The salon that I manage Details is hosting a Charity Service Jam on Feb 21 from 12pm - 5Pm. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Healing Haiti ( a local organization). We will be offering all services that day from cuts, color, skin and nails. Book your appointment today at 651-251-8700. Our website is www.detailsmn.com.

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!!

Wow! I cannot believe that Tyler is 12 years old today!!! It has gone by so fast! I feel as though I was just a newly wed of almost 2 years, working my first social work job and found out that I was pregnant with Tyler. The last thing on my mind was to be a mom but obviously someone else had things in store for us.

Tyler has grown from a boy of little words to a young man that is so hilarious. The little comments that he comes up with crack us up everyday! He is caring - loves to spend time with his sister (most of the time), loves his cousins especially his little cousin Ian. He treats him like a little brother - it is so cute! He loves music his favorite right now MJ. He has the dance moves down pretty good. He is a die hard U2 fan - we have video of him at 4 years old signing to Elevation. It feels as though that was just yesterday. This kid loves food - he might just be a food critic when he is older. He has a great palette for a 12 year old.He enjoys trying most foods. Spicer the better! Not that he is spoiled with a mom, aunts and ammachi that love to cook!

Words cannot explain what I feel for this young man. He has touched our lives in so many ways. I am proud to be his mom.
Happy 12th Birthday Tyler!!

We love you!!
Mom, Dad and Mira


Tyler at four:


Tyler at six


Tyler at nine:



This summer at VA Beach: ( I do have to say this kid could be a model i might be a little biased since I'm his mom)

I was craving a yummy chicken sandwich to make for dinner last night. Not deli chicken but GRILLED! With tasty toppings like spinach, pepper jack cheese, roasted red peppers, avocado and caramelized onions! Really you can choose whatever toppings fancy your palette.
I didn't think my husband would want to grill on a rainy January day in MN! So, I improvised the grilling to broiling the chicken. I marinated the chicken in Italian dressing before broiling it. I served the sandwiches with roasted potatoes and served it with seasoned sour cream ( i couldn't resist, i did use LIGHT sour cream).Of course veggies were also served. All mouths were HAPPY!

Here are the toppings for the sandwiches:



Yummy Chicken Sandwich:

Another Lost Tooth

Finally, after months and months of wiggling this tooth it has come out! It has been the most stubborn tooth, poor Mira wiggling and wiggling it everyday.
I cannot deal with the whole losing a tooth - the noise of the tooth, the pain, the blood - gross! Thankfully Ron has taken this job of pulling the kids teeth. Saturday was the day for Mira!! She got that tooth with the help of her dad.
She put the tooth in her little tooth fairy box and under her pillow it went. The next morning she came to our room with a $5 bill (seriously Ron, its a tooth I was thinking $1). She was so excited and said "I know the tooth fairy was in my room, she must have stepped on my slippers because they were not in the same spot I put them in".
When do we tell her there is really no tooth fairy??

Comfort Food!

I love to watch the PBS cooking shows on Saturday mornings, Ron even likes to watch them with me. Primarialry so he can say that looks really good and hopes that I will make it. I made this last Sunday for dinner. The kids did not like it at all. Ron and I enjoyed. I added a little more seasoning to the dish. It does not look that pretty but it did taste good.




Ingredients

Serves 4
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 sprigs thyme
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 links spicy Italian sausage (3/4 pound total), casings removed
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes
8 ounces medium shell pasta
1 bunch broccoli rabe (about 1 pound), trimmed and coarsely chopped
6 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden brown, 15 minutes (reduce heat if browning too quickly).
Add garlic and sausage. Cook, breaking meat up with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, breaking them up with spoon. Cook sauce until slightly thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Discard thyme.
Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 4 minutes less than package instructions. Add broccoli rabe to pot and cook 15 seconds. Drain pasta and broccoli rabe and return to pot. Stir in sausage mixture. Transfer to a 3-quart baking dish or divide among four 16-ounce gratin dishes. Top with mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake until cheese has melted and liquid is bubbling, about 15 minutes.
From Everyday Food, November 20