Let me begin by saying that I do not have a picture of this.  Sorry.  You’ll need to trust me when I say that the colors and melted cheese look as delicious as this impromptu recipe tastes.

4 adults went through an entire lasagna pan of this stuff.  It’s G-O-O-D, good.

Where did I find this recipe?  Oh, I just made it up on the fly.  Ya.  That’s just how I roll.

You see, the night my in-laws come into town is always a crazy dinner… they usually arrive after my kids have eaten, so I end up cooking two complete meals.  The dinner needs to be substantial (they’ve been flying all day), pre-made (so that I can get the girls ready for bed) and delicious (always a criteria in my kitchen).

This time, I made cheese manicotti topped with a turkey & veggie sauce.

It has a few too many steps for a quick weeknight dinner, but this was absolutely delicious.

Consider it sort of a deconstructed meat lasagna.  But a little “fancier” since it’s manicotti.

The recipe is below (I do take mental notes when I cook so that I can share with you) but you can really substitute any vegetables that you want.  Dont’ like squash – no problem.  Leave it out!  Or sub it with mushrooms.  It’s up to you.

{deena}

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As I mentioned earlier, it’s Teacher Appreciation Week and I’ve been giving my teachers a little something-something each day.  But today is the big lunch for all of the teaching staff and I’m charged with bringing a delicious dessert.

But, since I’m me, not just any dessert will do.

I had grand plans of creating a beautiful flower-box cake – like the one that I saw in a magazine this month.  But with my in-laws in town, and having just gotten back from a wedding, the week (and the decoration time) got away from me.

So, I did what any self-respecting food-loving parent would do.  I baked a simple Chocolate Cake.

But not just any simple chocolate cake… this cake is to die for.  It’s an old-fashion cake – one made with lots of packaged and processed ingredients – but it’s so good that I look past this every so often.

In Sabrina’s world, a chocolate cake must mean that I must really, REALLY love the teachers.  And I do.

{deena}

PS – the family was so overwhelmed with the delicious smell that they INSISTED I make another cake for them last night.  Since I only have one bundt pan, I made cupcakes instead and baked them for only 25 minutes.  DELISH!!

PPS – As I’ve said before, a pretty bundt pan goes a long way.  You don’t even need to frost this cake it’s so pretty with just a sprinkle of powdered sugar.  Love that!!

• Butter / Cocoa Powder “flour” Pan
• Measure ingredients
• Crack eggs
• Dump mixes into stand mixer
• Work the stand mixer
• Enjoy!!

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Hi.

I’m back … kind of.

To be honest, part of me has really missed blogging, and part of me has LOVED the freedom from constantly checking my stats (a perverse way of assessing my credibility and success), taking pictures of food (turns out I HATE taking pictures), and trying to be cute.

In fact, I’ve been so overwhelmed with moving (we are finally in our new house!), travelling (a good friend of mine just got married … CONGRATS!!) and trying to breathe (literally, not figuratively) that I’ve lost all interest in food, eating and cooking.  You would think that this would have led to a kind of revolt from my family, but no.  They are loving delivery pizza, mac ‘n cheese from the box and PB&J dinners.  In fact, they are starting to revolt now that I’m once again inspired to go to the grocery store and make something with fresh ingredients.

Maybe it’s the spring, or maybe it’s just the fact that I”m starting to feel better and have just enough energy to be dangerous in the kitchen.

Whatever the reason, I’m starting to cook again, and starting to miss writing, reading new cookbooks, exploring new cooking gadgets and the like.

So, I’m back.  I’m not sure in what capacity.  I’m not sure how good the pictures will be, how frequent I’ll be sharing recipes and where this is going … but I’m going to try to write again – which is a start.

Okay – now to the REAL topic of discussion… Teacher Appreciation.  The Martha Stewart in me is coming out strong this week in my kid’s little gifts to our teachers.  Well, Martha AND my new obsession with Washi Tape.

Want some Washi Tape?  Check out Cute Tape.

On Monday, I sent the kids into school with a $5 Starbucks gift card tucked inside a Starbucks Cup, with the caption “Hope you have a perky week!”

On Tuesday (today), I sent them to school with a craft bag filled with trail mix with the caption, “Hope the kids aren’t driving you nuts.”

Tomorrow is flower day at our school, so we’ll go into the back yard to pick something pretty.

On Thursday, I have prepared a box full of lollipops – all individually labeled (with Washi Table, of course).

(see, my picture taking abilities leave a TON of room for improvement)

And on Friday I will send them each with a bunch of dry erase markers tagged with, “Get Inked!  Don’t start your day all dried up.”

I thought I was really creative until I started trolling the internet for a quick round-up.  Man, do these bloggers have the crafting and photo thing down.  These would all make great end-of-year gifts too.  I’ll need to circle back to these ideas next year…

From Eighteen25.blogspot.com - she also has some great ideas involving Swedish Fish!!

Thanks, Tip Junkie… I’ll be using this for the end of  the year gift!

Love this one from Uncommon Designs.

I also plan to bake a cake for the teachers, like I did a couple of years ago.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

What are you doing for your teachers this year?  Do you have any fabulous ideas that I can steal for next year?

{deena}

Be sure to check back for new recipes, stories and family fooding adventures!

I’ve been indulging in CBTL Vanilla Chai Tea Latte’s lately.

I say “indulge” because I made the mistake of reading the ingredients of the vanilla powder that makes the latte so damn delicious.  UGGGGGG.  I’ve limited my lattes to only twice a week.

But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been craving that spicy mix to Chai Tea and the sweetness of Vanilla on a daily basis.

So, when I saw a Vanilla Chai Tea bundt cake recipe, I jumped at the chance to make it.  And, it was DELISH!!!  Really.  This cake was a hit at a breakfast farewell party that I threw a few weeks ago.

The bundt pan is worth the investment ... it makes everything more special

I did tweak it (you all know by now that I’m a disaster when it comes to following directions), but even my sister said that it tasted great.

There are a few things I learned along the way:

1. You really need to butter and flour the bundt pan – don’t use a non-stick spray and flour … the flour pools into certain spots and leaves behind a little white edging.
2. This spiral bundt pan (I found it on cooks.com) really makes everything so much more impressive looking.
3. This is a POUND cake in the shape of a bundt cake.  It’s moist, delicious and heavy.  This is not a light cake.  As long as you know that, everything will be fine.
4. Use a high quality butter in this recipe (I used Kerrygold)… it really makes the flavors “pop”.

• Measure milk
• Count out tea bags
• Measure dry ingredients
• Crack eggs
• Butter / Flour the Bundt Pan
• Drizzle glaze on top

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What happens when it’s dinner time and mommy just doesn’t want to cook?  In my house, we do a DIY salad bar.

Now, when I say “we’re having a salad bar for dinner tonight”, my kids usually start crying.  They don’t want salad.  But they do want cut up turkey, some chicken, a hard-boiled egg, some carrots and ranch dressing… all separated on their plate.

The real genius of a DIY salad bar night is that each person basically creates their own meal… I just make the ingredients available and ready to eat.  There’s usually no actual cooking involved… just a little gathering and chopping.  And, even on the laziest Sunday afternoon, I can handle that.

And, the best part is that my kids are eating a light healthy meal instead of take out.

separate all of your favorite veggies and proteins and let the kids go to town

So, why not try it.

Just chop up your favorite vegetable, add some easy protein (rotisserie chicken, hard-boiled egg, sliced turkey, beans…) and display them in separate bowls.  Let everyone pick and choose what they put on their plate and voila!

A simple, delicious, healthy meal that mommy didn’t have to cook.

{deena}

Be sure to check back for new recipes, stories and family fooding adventures!