MXS Cooks

Recently I was thinking that I need to compile all the recipes of food I've made for the family so as my kids get older they'll have a reference for all of "Mom's cooking" Lately I think of Mia when I cook and think of key things she should know if she was trying to recreate a dish of mine. The recipes aren't perfect but it's a start for recreating the food the family has grown up with. Great memories usually involve food :-)

Adapted from this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chicken-tortilla-soup-recipe.html Chopped 1/2 onion 2 gloves garlic Sweat for 5 min. Add tomatoes / salsa Add chicken broth Add chicken Bring to boil Simmer 25-30 min Take out chicken and shred. Add back to pot Add lime Slice tortillas into strips.  Stir Fry in oil for 5 min. Serve with avocado, corn, and tortillas strips and cheese

okay, this isn't technically cooking, but it's my new goto lunch. 1 package of udon noodles that you buy in the tofu section flavored with beef/chicken/mushroom. Trader Joes Stir Fry veggies. Add the veggies to the noodles, water, and spice packet and heat in the microwave. Done. so easy and so tasty.

Bottle of light red wine, Beaujolais works best for me. Oranges, lemons, limes (1 each / bottle) 1/4 C Grand Marnier, triple sec, or another orange liquor 1/4 C sugar Slice up the fruits and place into pitcher. Pour sugar and liquor over top and mull it all together with the back of a wooden spoon. Pour the wine over. Let it sit for at least an hour. It actually can be drank right away if you can't wait - but allowing to let the flavors blend is better. Pour over ice. You can also try this using white wine. It also is really refreshing and hits the spot. I had a cava sangria while in Barcelona and it was very tingly and light. Haven't yet been able to recreate it in my kitchen. I'll try this version next although I don't suppose white grape juice is a staple in Barcelona.... Bobby Flay's Cava Sangria

(reminds me of summer grilling out with the family) 6 regular size Idaho potatoes 1/2 cup chopped celery 1/4 c chopped onions 3 chopped boiled eggs peel potatoes cut into 1 inch size cubes Boil in a qt of water until soft Drain - Set aside to cool After potatoes have cooled down, add celery, onion, eggs, and 1 tblsp salt - mix well Add enough Miracle Whip and 1 tblsp mustard to get ingredients to stick together Refrigerate - Serve cold for 6

I was inspired by the manicotti on sale at Safeway tonight. I knew I didn't want to be piping ricotta cheese filling into these things so I decided that I would be a little creative. Studied the recipe on the back to make sure I had most of the ingredients at home and bought the rigatoni on sale for 99 cents. Got home (6:30pm!) and immediately put a pot of boiling water on the stove. Looked in the fridge for leftover ricotta cheese and noticed that I already had leftover cooked penne. Hmmm, i should use that instead. So threw in the rest of the dry penne from the box (i rarely make a whole box cause it seems to always go to waste) and some of the rigatoni (see again now I have a partial box of pasta), boiled it and then threw in the leftover cooked penne in the last minute to heat it up. While that was cooking, I sauteed 1 chopped garlic clove then threw in the remains of the spinach (good thing I failed to pack that for lunch yet again) . After that cooked, I set it aside ...

Sunday - Marinated Flank Steak w/ Gorgonzola Cheese, Asparagus Spears w/ Vinegarette, Red Potatoes (Miguel hated the potatoes, spit out the steak and ate all the asparagus) Monday - Cobb Salad w/ Kidney Beans, Hard-boiled eggs, avocado, bacon (yum!), cut up chicken, and Gorgonzola cheese tossed with romain lettuce and blue cheese dressing. A hit with the family but needed to make more. Tuesday - Panini Sandwiches - this is the 3rd week this is on the menu and I have yet to make them. Instead we had Gnocchi (TJ's) w/ spinach and pancetta. Kids like this one. Friday - Clam Chowder soup with sourdough bread