Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Pizza with Trader Joe’s Herb Pizza Crust

You have to try this – herbed pizza dough topped with caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms. Wow was it good, and so simple to put together too. I cooked the sliced yellow onions over medium heat in a cast iron skillet until they were…

Peppers and Onions with a Plancha on a Grill

Yum, we had pork loin chops on the grill tonight and I cooked up a batch of peppers and onions to go with them. I read in a magazine recently (Sunset maybe?) about cooking steaks on a plancha on a grill (a plancha is…

A Lunchtime Fruit Plate

I was getting ready for lunch today, looking in the fridge when I realized that we had a ton of fruit. I initially was going to make a fruit salad, but I decided to make a composed fruit plate instead and the kiddos loved…

Eggplant, Red Pepper and Cherry Tomato Pasta

We had a delicious meal the other night and I think I’ve found another tricky way to get my suddenly veggie-adverse 3 year-old to get a few vitamins in without him knowing. He’s kind of obsessed with pasta and noodles right now, so I…

Grilled Cowboy Steaks with Onions and Green Chiles

When it’s nice out in Seattle you have to grill out – I think it’s actually a law or something. Last night was so beautiful and we were all in the mood for beef so I grilled up some steaks with onions and chiles….

Aguadito Con Cerdo {Cilantro Pepper Pork Stew}

Aguadito is a Peruvian style soup (or stew) that is a great use for leftovers in the kitchen. In fact, it tastes better when you use leftovers. We usually make it with the turkey carcass after Thanksgiving, but you can also make an amazing…

Super Easy Four Ingredient Spaghetti and Meatballs

First off, let me just say this is one of my kids’ favorite meals, and since it’s also a very easy meal to make it’s one of my favorites too! Plus they end up eating a lot of spinach without mentioning anything about yucky…

Bacalao a la Vizcaina – Good Friday Salt Cod Stew {recipe}

  I hope you all had a happy Easter! Wow, the weather was absolutely unbeatable this spring weekend here in the Pacific Northwest and we really got a chance to enjoy it. We kicked off the holiday weekend on Friday, dyeing Easter eggs and…

Spaghetti With Vegetables and Meatballs

As part of my ongoing effort to save money on groceries plus feed my family good real food, we ate spaghetti with vegetables and meatballs for dinner. The vegetables were again courtesy of my grocery-gleaning neighbor, the pasta was from the pantry and the…

Pasta with Kielbasa and Peppers

In the same spirit of frugal dinners and using up things in the pantry before grocery shopping, dinner last night was pasta with smoked kielbasa, green peppers, zucchini and tomatoes. It was super yummy and easy – I just sauteed some smoked kielbasa (from…