Honey Orange Acorn Squash

This is the perfect fall side and one of my personal favorites!

I cut both ends off of the acorn squash. 

Then cut in half and scoop out all of the seeds.

Then slice each half into little half moons.

Season with melted ghee, sea salt, ground pepper, juice of half an orange and honey. 

Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds if you like for pretty color.

Bake at 375 for 20 mins

Pure golden yumminess!

My kids seriously think it's candy!

 

I paired this with a pork tenderloin and garlic green beans tonight!

Parmesan garlic spaghetti squash

The star of tonight's dinner was the side of Parmesan garlic spaghetti squash. When you eat beef tenderloin, garlic mashed potatoes or a big baked potatoe is the likely side but after reading this recipe in several different cookbooks and magazines, I knew I had to try it....and anytime there is lots of garlic on it, I most likely will love it!

Tonight I made beef tenderloin, the squash and garlic green beans.

For the squash I cut them in half, cored them, then placed them in a baking dish, drizzled with olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper. Microplanned a garlic clove on each half, then rubbed it all in.

Baked at 400 for an hour.

Let it cool then forked out the squash and tossed with Parmesan cheese.

Beef tenderloin filets I kept super simple.

Salt and pepper, seared in a sautee pan in ghee for about 2 mins on each side then baked at 400 for about 15 mins.

For the green beans, again simple salt, pepper, microplanned garlic and olive oil. Baked at 400 for 15 mins.

Simple, easy and delicious!

Seriously try the spaghetti squash this way, you won't be missing any potato!!!

 

Ghee and Thyme Salmon over Parmesan Kale Chips

Anyone else feel like they need to detox after the weekend? I did so I ventured for a super healthy dinner with my favorite combination- salmon and kale!

Wild sockeye salmon

Seasoned with fresh lemon juice, sea salt, lemon pepper, red pepper, fresh thyme and green spoons of ghee down the middle of the fish.

Baked at 400 for 15 mins

Kale chips

Washed, de-veined and chopped Kale on a foil lined cookie sheet.

Seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, lemon pepper and red pepper.

Baked at 400 for 15 mins, until crispy

When crispy, take out of oven, squeeze with Lemon and dust with Parmesan cheese and toss.

I like the salmon served right on top of the kale

Great combo!

 

Here's to a healthy week!

Shaha Mischi, Say What?

Shaha Mischi
pronounced, sha-ha-misch-ee ( if that even makes sense?)
Half of the fun of making this dish is saying the name....haha!
This is a traditional lebanese dish that I grew up eating and was one of my absolute favorites, probably because it features my favorite vegetable-Eggplant!  This was a big hit in my family on this rainy night and I am not even sure my girls realized they were eating eggplant, until I pointed it out and my oldest said she thought it was just really big zucchini slices! Try this recipe and hopefully your family will enjoy it as much as mine!

To start, you first have to make Humpsa.  Humpsa is a Lebanese meat dressing that we use in lots of different recipes.

I started by melting a spoonful of ghee, adding a chopped sweet onion, let it soften, then added 2lbs. of grass fed ground beef.  Cooked it until it was fully cooked. Seasoned it with salt, garlic powder, lemon pepper, red pepper and a generous amount of cinnamon. Finish it with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and toasted pine nuts. (we leave out the pine nuts because of my daughters allergy)
At this point, your humpsa is done.

 
You can use humpsa to make meat pies, my girls love it cooked on an open face biscuit, when they were little i would mix it with boiled pasta or any grain and some vegetables.

To make the shaha mischi, I lined a casserole dish with thick eggplant slices. 

 

Poured the humpsa on top

 

 topped it tomato sauce (in a bowl, i emptied 2 cans of an organic tomato sauce, seasoned it with fresh basil, salt, garlic powder and red pepper)

 

Then poured the tomato sauce over the humpsa

 

 I also added a little fresh basil on top of the dish. Covered dish with foil and baked at 350 for 45mins.

 
Served over syrian rice.

 

We had a nice little family discussion about mommys Lebanese heritage, in which my girls asked "what does that mean?" So it was a yummy meal, shared over some fun family talks learning about their family history! 

Making the most of leftovers

This morning while I was packing the girls' lunches and mentally planning out my day and thinking about what i was cooking for dinner, if I needed to thaw out any meat....I looked in my ice box and realized I had lots of leftover meat from our family grill out Sunday....so why cook more meat when we had plenty that needs to be eaten.  I hate throwing away food!
But leftovers are blah and boring and most people including me don't get excited about them.
I find, you got to kind of re-cook them, re-purpose them to jazz them up to make them appealing!

For lunch, it was pretty simple...
I just warmed up some leftover chicken kabobs in a skillet real quick and drizzled some tahini on top while it was hot, so it melted on top.  SO so good!!!



For dinner, I was supposed to make chicken skillet fajitas, but instead i used this leftover grilled flank steak and made skillet beef fajitas.

Now this leftover flank steak looks totally blah....not very appealing!

So I sauteed some onions and peppers in a spoonful of ghee

added the flank steak, squeezed juice of a lime...

Now that looks like a fresh meal!

Cut up a simple salad of romain, avocado, red belpepper and fresh parsley.

Seasoned with a little Tony's, olive oil, lemon juice and red wine vinegar and tossed!

Another way to jazz up leftovers is to create a new side! Look in your fridge and use what you have!

I had some pretty tri-color carrots, I cut into french fries, seasoned with a  little avocado oil, sea salt and pepper.
Baked at 400 for about 15 mins.
Came out toasted and super yummy...seriously tasted like popcorn to me???

Beef fajita salad with a side of carrot fries.

Beef fajita tacos!

Leftovers for the win!
Just repurpose them and make them appealing again...
as my Sittee would say, "you gotta sell it"

Halloween Night and Family Traditions

Holiday season is upon us and for most, the holidays are tied to family traditions and favorite family recipes.  Growing up, my mom usually made a big pot of red beans and rice with popeyes fried chicken or a big pot of chili.....either way it was a big pot of something! Best thing about cooking a big pot of something is that you usually start cooking it hours in advance, so its done ahead of time, it feeds a bunch! Family, friends, neighbors that pop in - you are prepared!
I have started the tradition of making my dad's 3 meat, 3 bean chili!
I serve it with steamed rice, fritos, avocado salad, cheese, greek yogurt (instead of sour cream) and sometimes cornbread.

Here is the recipe
http://amommawhocooks.blogspot.com/2013/10/happy-halloween-chilli-night.html

Hope everyone had a spooky and safe Halloween!
Make the holidays a special time with your family, marked with some special meals your children will grow to love and look forward to on those special nights!

Avocado salad we topped the chilli with.

 

Chilli frito pies! 

 

My sweet girls were a prima ballerina and rainbow unicorn!