Tomorrows The Day

Overwhelmed with gratitude today by the many ways people have loved on us this week. I constantly shake my head and tell Jason I just can't believe it. We are certainly not walking this alone.  You have all linked arms with us and have held us up.  Thank you is just not enough.  We are eagerly awaiting answers for Noah and tomorrow he will undergo a big procedure at CHLA. It is scheduled for 7 in the morning. He will have a Heart Cath done where they will do a heart biopsy as well as another test to check some electrical stuff.  We really hope this will give us some details about what is causing Noah's abnormal EKG readings and episodes.  We are not sure what to expect as far as how long we will be there.  If they do not have to do anything urgent we will be back home in the late afternoon.  If they do need to do something right away to fix the problem it could be a longer stay.  We will update soon after we hear some details.  They will go through his neck instead of the groin and will give him some verced before they put the IV in so that he will not be as anxious.  We have gone over all the details and have prepared him as best as we can.  He tells us he is not worried but has had many emotional breakdowns this week so we know it is making him a little anxious.  His sweet friend Abbie skyped him and prayed for him  and another friend from Friday school dropped off dinner for us all.  Jonah was determined to make him laugh so in Jonah style he came out with his sisters princess dress on and it certainly did the trick.  Noah was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe :)  We took him to the store to pick out ice cream.  He remembered us doing that for Jonah and so even though his throat wasn't gonna be sore he surely deserved some ice cream.  So Thankful for the many talks  we have had about God's goodness in the midst of trials.  As hard as it is to see my sweet boy go through this it is such a blessing to see him recognize God at work.  So now we wait and we put our trust in the Lord knowing he has Noah in the palm of his hand. Would you please Pray for good rest tonight and good results tomorrow.

Were Back to Swapping :)

Mel-Pasta Bake(Taylore Coloumbes recipe)

Ingredients:
1 box of penne noodles
2 jars of tomato sauce

1 package mild sausage(cook it like ground beef)
1 block of graded mozzarella cheese
1 bag of mixed cheese

Instructions:
Boil noodles. Cook Sausage.
Mix noodles, 1 ½ jars of sauce, sausage and mozzarella cheese together in a big pan. Put all into a 9x 13 baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce around the edges and over the top to keep the meal more moist. Cover/sprinkle the top with mixed cheese. put saran wrap and then foil over the top of the baking dish.
Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes (or until hot all the way through). Once it’s hot, remove the saran wrap and foil. Broil on high for 5-7 minutes until the top is crispy.
Serve with green beans. Enjoy!

Leah- Lasagna

already made for you

Lu- Chicken tostadas

Grilled Chicken Breast Tostadas

• 2 limes
• 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breast (about 1 1/2 p0unds)
• kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 cup sour cream
• 6 (6 inch) corn tortillas ( I used the Hand Made Style white corn tortillas from La Tortilla Factory)
• additional olive oil
• easy guacamole
• pico de gallo (already made)
  

1. In a gallon sized ziploc bag, combine juice from 1 lime, olive oil, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Add chicken and marinate for 1 hour.
2. While chicken marinates, mix 1 cup sour cream with 1 tsp. lime zest and 1-2 Tbsp. lime juice (from remaining lime) to make a lime crema. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.
3. Preheat grill to high. Grill chicken for about 4-6 minutes per side until juices run clear.
4. Brush tortillas with olive oil and toast on grill for about 30 seconds per side or until nice and crisp. Remove from grill and sprinkle with salt.
5. Slice cooked chicken breasts into slices and build tostadas. To build: Spread tortilla with guacamole then top with chicken slices, pico de gallo, followed by lime crema.

Easy Pico de Gallo

2 medium tomatoes, seeds removed and diced

1/4 onion, diced

2 Tbsp. cilantro

1 clove of garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

a squirt of lime juice (optional)

Blend ingredient together in a bowl and serve.

Week of May 15th

Leah-Garlic Lime Chicken

Garlic Spice mix
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
6 chicken breasts
4 T lime juice

Sprinkle spice mixture on both sides of chicken. In a skillet heat butter and olive oil together over medium high heat. Saute chicken until golden brown about 5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken and ad lime juice and chicken broth to the pan making sure to whisk up the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Keep cooking until sauce has reduced slightly. Add chicken back to the pan to thoroughly coat and serve.

Amanda-Tilapia Fish Tacos & Black Beans & Rice

Ingredients

• Tilapia
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• Salt and pepper
• 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped (will not chop...thinking it might get soggy??)
• 2 green onions - will chop for you
• whole wheat tortillas

Directions

Preheat a grill pan or indoor grill to high heat or, prepare outdoor grill. Drizzle tilapia with extra-virgin olive oil to keep fish from sticking to the grill pan or grill. Season fish with salt and pepper, to your taste. Grill fish 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until opaque. Flake fish into large chunks with a fork.

Stir in diced tomatoes and green onion to guacamole sauce.

When fish comes off the grill pan or grill, blister and heat soft taco wraps. To assemble, break up fish and pile some of the meat into soft shells and slather with guacamole sauce. Top with shredded lettuce, fold tacos over and eat!

Mel - Chicken Caesar Wraps (I think!)

Lu - out of town this week

May Swap

Leah-Garden Pasta Salad with Chicken Whole Wheat Pasta Rotisserie Chicken Veggies Dressing for pasta Parmesan cheese Fruit for Fruit Salad Yogurt Honey Sauce for fruit Cook the pasta according to the package. Remove meat from the rotisserie chicken and tear or cut into bite sized pieces Toss pasta, chicken, veggies and dressing together (veggies will be lightly steamed and dressing made for you) Sprinkle with cheese and enjoy! Cut up fruit and mix lightly with yogurt. Enjoy as well =)

Melody- Orange Marmalade Chicken and rice and greenbeans

Chicken breasts-(I will marinate for you)

The marinade is:

one bottle itallian dressing

one jar kings orange marmalade pour the whole jar over all the chicken

Pour chicken and marinade in 9x13 pan pour marmalade over chicken and marinade and bake at 350 for 45 min

serve chicken and sauce over rice and serve with green beans

Amanda-Cheesy Chicken Meatballs, Caesar Salad & Bread

Ingredients

• 1 pound spaghetti
• 1 1/2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomato
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomato
  
• Basil- seasoned to taste
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper- seasoned taste
  
• EVOO - extra virgin olive oil
• Meatballs will already be prepared and ready to put in sauce - will need to slightly thaw or increase cooking time
  

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Preparation

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Once the water comes to a boil, add a generous handful of salt along with the pasta. Cook the pasta to al dente according to the package directions.

Place a medium-size sauce pan over medium-high heat, add EVOO. Add the garlic and cook until it starts to get lightly browned, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and basil and bring to a simmer, cook for 8-10 minutes and season with salt and pepper.(Sometimes I also use some garlic salt)

Place the meatballs in the tomato sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until cooked through.

Pour meatballs and sauce over the cooked pasta add grated cheese

Lu-Speedy Shrimp Scampi

( Sam’s did not have the raw shrimp that I usually get so I am sending pre-cooked shrimp. You will just need to thaw this under cold water and reduce cooking time. I have made this dish with these shrimp before and it turned out fine.)

Ingredients

1 pound shrimp 1 (12-oz.) package angel hair pasta

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup finely chopped green onion

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt-free Italian-herb seasoning

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (this is optional, I have never put this in mine)

1 tsp lemon zest (I usually do more.)

Juice of 1 lemon (I usually do juice of 2 lemons)

1/4 cup freshly grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or dried parsley

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Preparation

1. Prepare angel hair pasta according to package directions and thaw shrimp under cold water.

3. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add garlic, and sauté 3 to 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in Italian-herb seasoning, dried parsley and Worcestershire sauce.

4. Reduce heat to medium. Add lemon zest, shrimp, and cook, stirring occasionally, 3-5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice. Toss shrimp mixture with pasta, and sprinkle with cheese and parsley. Serve immediately.

May Recipes Week 1

Mel- Homemade Pizza and Salad

1 ½ lbs. Claro's fresh pizza dough	Olive oil
2 cup pizza sauce	pepperoni
3 cloves garlic minced	Pepper to taste
Claro's Grated Romano Cheese	Dry Oregano
½ lb. mozzarella cheese grated on large hole of grater	2 or 3 links Claro's Italian sausage, casings removed

Oil a 16" pizza pan with some olive oil. Roll the fresh dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is a little larger than the pizza pan. Ease it gently onto the pan and pat it into place. Rub some more olive oil on top of the dough. Top with the pizza sauce, sausage, peperoni, garlic and spices. Bake at 400 º until lightly browned. Be sure to put it on the lowest rack in the oven. When it is half done, lightly golden, put the mozzarella & romano cheeses on top and continue baking until done.

To cook sausage take out of casing and either brown like ground meat or slice and cook until no pink.

KITCHEN HINT: The handling of Claro's Fresh Pizza Dough.....

We make fresh dough in all of our stores. It only takes 10 minutes and there is nothing like pizza made with fresh dough. Pizza dough can be kept under refrigeration for about 2 days. When you open the bag and it will sometimes smell slightly like wine, that's normal. It can be frozen, but I only recommend freezing the dough if you have no choice. When you are ready to use the dough, cut it into pieces appropriate for the pizza pan that you will be using, 1 lb. of dough fits a 12" pan nicely. Work the dough into a ball and place it on a cookie sheet lightly dusted with flour. Flour the top of the ball and cover lightly with saran or a dishtowel and place in a fairly warm place and allow to double in size. When rolling, carefully flatten ball with hands and roll lightly with rolling pin until slightly larger than pizza pan. If when rolling dough you have a problem with it shrinking back to much, you need to let it rest more before rolling it out. Your patience will pay off with a light airy pizza crust. Place rolled out dough on oiled pizza pan and top with all your favorites.

Amanda-Pork Fried Rice & Egg Rolls

5 TBS vegetable oil or olive oil 3 eggs lightly beaten 6 tablespoons + 1/2 TBS soy sauce 3 garlic clove green onions Pork carrots 1 1/2 cups frozen peas 6 cups cooked brown rice (about 3/4 uncooked rice) 6 TBS rice vinegar In wok or large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tbs oil over high. In a bowl lightly beat eggs with 1/2 TBS of soy sauce. Add eggs to wok and swirl to coat bottom of pan. Cook, without stirring, until almost set. Then fold together and transfer to work surface. Cut in 1/2 inch pieces. Add 3 tbs of oil to pan ans swirl to coat. Add garlic and green onions and cook stirring constantly until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add pork, carrots, peas and cooked rice. Stir to combine. Add cooked egg and 6 tbs of soy sauce and vinegar and cook, stirring constantly, until rice is coated, about 1 minute. Let cook undisturbed until warm, about 1 min. Cook egg rolls in oven according to packaged directions.

Lu- Nacho Supreme

Nachos Supreme - Brown ground beef then add taco seasoning and ¼ cup of water. Lay chips out in a single layer on cookie sheet. Top with ground beef and add grated cheese. Bake in oven on 400 degrees until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and add chopped tomatoes and avocadoes. Dip in sour cream, salsa or refried beans.

Warm refried beans on stovetop and top with cheese. Eat as a side or as a dip with chips.

I am throwing in a jar of applesauce for the kiddos.

Leah-Steak Chili and cornbread

Chili with Steak (provided, just need to heat it up)
Cheddar Cheese
Sour Cream
green onions

Cornbread mix: follow directions on package. You'll need milk and one egg....I'm not sending these because I'm assuming we all have eggs and milk on hand. If you don't just send me an e-mail and I'll include them for you =)

April Swap II

Amanda-BBQ Chicken quarters, baked beans, corn

Brine:

• 2 quarts water
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed with the side of a large knife
• 6 chicken legs and thighs, still connected, bone in, skin on, about 10 ounces each

Directions

For the brine, in a mixing bowl combine the water, salt, sugar, garlic, and thyme. Transfer the brine to a 2-gallon sized re-sealable plastic bag. Add the chicken, close the bag and refrigerate 2 hours (if you've only got 15 minutes, that's fine) to allow the salt and seasonings to penetrate the chicken.

Preheat oven 375 degrees F.

Preheat a grill pan or an outdoor gas or charcoal barbecue to a medium heat. Take a few paper towels and fold them several times to make a thick square. Blot a small amount of oil (or use spray) on the paper towel and carefully and quickly wipe the hot grates of the grill to make a nonstick surface. Take the chicken out of the brine, pat it dry on paper towels. Arrange the chicken pieces on the preheated grill and cook, turn once mid-way, and cook for a total of 10 minutes. Transfer the grill marked chicken to a cookie sheet and then place in the oven. Cook the chicken for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven and then brush liberally, coating every inch of the legs with the barbecue sauce and then return to the oven for 25 to 30 more minutes, basting the chicken for a second time half way through remaining cooking time. Serve with extra sauce.

Just heat the baked beans and cook the corn on the cob as directed on package.

Lu-Grilled Chicken breast with Mediterranean Grain Salad

The chicken breasts are marinated and ready to grill (or brown on the stovetop in a skillet and finish baking in the oven).

½ pkg of Traders Joe’s Harvest Grain Blend (premeasured for you)

1 c. diced tomatoes

½ c. fresh basil chopped

1/3 c diced green onions

1 Tbs. Red Wine Vinegar

2 Tbs. Olive Oil

1oz. crumbled feta

coarse salt and pepper

Bring 1 ¾ c. water to a boil (or chicken broth). Add a tsp . of olive oil and stir in grains. Bring back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 mins. Remove from heat and let cool. Add the above ingredients and toss.

Leah-Beef Stroganoff with egg noodles and broccoli

Beef tenderloin strips

sliced mushrooms

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 onion

2 T butter

brown sugar

1 T white flour

sour cream

Egg noodles

Broccoli

Heat a heavy skillet on high for 2 minutes. Add t tsp oil and swirl the pan to coat. Add the mushrooms and cook over high heat without stirring for 30 seconds, then continue cooking, shaking the pan a few occasionally until the mushrooms have browned lightly, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and transfer them to a mixing bowl.

Return the pan to high heat, add another tsp of oil and swirl to coat the pan. Place the tenderloin strips in the pan in a single layer taking care that the strips are not touching. Sear them without turning until the meat is well browned on one side, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Turn the strips and sear the other sides until well browned, about a minute more. Season the meat with salt and transfer to the bowl with the mushrooms. You may need to split the meat up into 2 batches depending on the size of your pan.

Return the pan to high heat and add 1/4 cup chicken broth to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon or whisk. Simmer and reduce the sauce so it thickens a bit. Pour sauce over mushrooms and beef.

Return the pan to medium heat and add the butter, When it is foamy add the onion and brown sugar. Cook, stirring frequently until the onion is browned, about 3 minutes. Stir in the flour and mix well. Using a whisk, add the remaining chicken broth and mix vigorously until thickened. Add any juices from the bowl of beef and mushrooms. Spoon about 1/2 cup of the hot sauce into a bowl with the sour cream and mix well. Then take the sour cream and pour back into the pan. Mix well. Add the beef and mushrooms. Serve over noodles (directions on package)

Steam broccoli and season to taste.

Mel-Chicken Soft Tacos and Fruit

marrinated chicken

lettuce

Tomato

Cheese

Avocado

Tortillas

Beans

sour cream

Grill or bake chicken. Cut into strips and assemble tacos to your liking.

April Swap

Week 1

Lu- Cheese Burgers with baked beans and chips.

The burgers will already be prepared so just throw them on the grill or in a skillet on the stovetop.

Amanda-Chicken Tetrazzini

This will already be prepared for you....you just have to thaw it and cook it. Once thawed bake covered at 350 for 30 to 40 min. or until bubbly. Will also provide bread.

Mel- Creamy Chicken Enchilladas and salad

They will already be prepared for you. cook at 350 for 30 min.

Leah we will miss swapping with you these next couple weeks.