Easy Dinners For Busy Nights

Sad to say summer is over (even though season wise it's really not) .That means crammed school schedules and five day work weeks again. Gome are those lazy dinners where ingredients are either thrown together or grilled for a simple yet tasty meal. Not to worry Easy cooking can still be done.

The New York Times Wednesday Food section brought back Weeknight 100, the annual list of easy dishes to make in the year ahead.The emphasis is on effective yet excellent cooking. These dishes are not only delicious but won;t take too much time. Most can be made and served in under an hour. The list was also made with kids in mind. Picky eaters will like them. Picky adults even more. The recipes can even be modified to suit tastes and allergies too. One is the yummy flavored chicken and pesto rice with peas. This is skinless chicken breasts cooked in a Dutch oven with a chopped white onion and garlic.  Homemade or store bought pesto is added a long with chicken broth. Towards the end of the cooking , frozen peas are added as the peas cook with the rice and chicken;s heat.  Ground chicken makes an appearance in a comforting spinach rich curry too>it is flavored with garam masala and both Kashmiro and Thai Chili's.Plum tomatoes are also added for more color and a tangy sweetness. Tomatoes and spinach also make an appearance  with farro and pesto.Mozzarella is added for creaminess.Kids will  love these za'atar laced turkey meatballs with a tahini dip

Shakshuka is usually reserved for a hearty breakfast but it can also be made for dinner. This is an easy one with the addition of white beans for more protein with the eggs and store bought marinara sauce.This can be served with toasted bread for white rice, For another exotic bite try making crispy coconut salmon with a chive Chile sauce.  The batter has honey in it to accentuate the coconut while the sauce is a blend of  scallions, chili and lime juice for zing. Honey and olive oil are blended in for smoothness. For the cooler lights try the Moroccan inspired ras El hangout chickpea and spinach stew.There are also tomatoes in this and the surprise ingredient of soy sauce. Chickpeas and spinach leaves are cooked into this  along with veggie stock for a truly vegetarian dinner. Dollops of Greek yogurt can be added to it for creaminess of wanted.Everyone will love peanut noodles with spicy tofu. The peanut sauce will be prepared first with it being added to brown sugar and vinegar. Soy sauce along with garlic to create a thick paste. The tofu crumbles are fried in oil  until brown in a large skillet.Also cook spaghetti as the base and then added the peanut sauce. Top with the tfu crumbles and chopped cilantro.

These dishes are tasty and quick to make. They're the perfect dinner for those busy days.Try them for a tasty and simply satisfying meal.

 

Students Starving For Food

 The school year start with thousands of kids not getting a good breakfast. It also applies to dinners too. What can we do about student food insecurity.Give them a H for help. We can help kids of all ages have three decent meals a day.

Why are so many American kids starving. Two reasons. One is loss of direct  certification. This means that when families lose their SNAP or Medicaid their children automatically lose their automatic school eligibility. There's also CEP or Community Eligibility Provision Drops. Schools rely on overall low income enrollment percentages to offer universal free meals through the Community Eligibility Program. This is a non pricing meal option for schools and school districts in low income areas. Declining SNAP enrollment too is forcing major districts, like MIami-Dade in Southern Florida to drop out of the district wide free meal program. even if it's a bowl for cereal and milk, itt's still nutritional and gets a kid through to lunch,Hungry kids wind up disrupting classes or worse zoning out. This isn't right yet what can be done.One thing is don;t donate directly to the teacher or the students there are several organizations you can give money to. Try the non profits like All For Lunch , School Lunch Fairy and Lunch It Forward.These can help tremendously.

What are they? All For Lunch partners directly with schools to pay off delinquent lunch accounts and funds reserve accounts so children never have to go without a hot meal. You can even target your town;s school or district. There is also the sweet sounding School Lunch Fairy which establishes emergency lunch funds at public schools across the US to guarantee a child gets fed if they don;t have money that day.Lunch It Forward dedicated funds to eliminating school lunch debt ,specifically focusing on supporting students who just fall outside federal assistance guidelines.There's also No Kid Hungry which  works on broader campaigns to fund not only school breakfast and lunch programs and advocates for universal free lunches. Also contact the town;s PTA to work with them along with school counselors. Counselors know exactly who is struggling and CNA quickly route community donations directly into student accounts without any administrative red tape.

Hungry kids are a problem in this country. Thanks to an uncaring governments, little ones are going without decent meals. It has to be stopped without any further damage.

It's Festival Season

 September does mean the return to school but it also means festival season.This means parks and city blocks are going to be filled with all sorts of yummy foods and drinks along with games and fun vendors. What;'s going on where? Find out!!!

New York City of course has the San Gennaro festival in lower Manhattan;s Little Italy. There you can find everything from puffs of hot and sugary zeppelin to hot from the oven pizza slices. Stop in the many cages and finish the pizza a long with arancini, rice balls stuffed with seasoned ground beef , with a cappuccino and the many Southern Italian pastries. This is from September  17th to the 27th.This year celebrates its' one hundredth anniversary. so there will be extra treats and celebrations going on. Earlier in the month, this weekend the city hosts Egyptian Day where you can enjoy such treats as shawarma and tabouli Right across the river in New Jersey the state has a variety of festivals also going on. Head over the the near the shore town Manalapan where the Happy Day Farm has the famed tribute to Dolly Parton - a corn maze dedicated to her along with food stands that feature fresh apple fritters, funnel cakes, gyros and fresh squeezed lemonade to name a few. Up north Bergen County has the Fall Festival in Overpeck Creek Park in Leonia (right off ROute 80. It;s September 18th to the 19th and there will be a variety of different food trucks for all sorts of taste.

See Boston , not just for it's Revolutionary War History but for the festivals there .It is a foodie town ,catering to all sorts of taste. Try the Caribbean Rum and Food Festival held on September 12th at Roxbury College. This is a boozy get together where you can sample different rums along with such Caribbeans favorites as jerk chicken and  conch fritters.There's sure to be slices of rum cake too. There is also the Boston local food festival September 26th at ROse Kennedy Greenway.The best of New England is there, Try blueberry crisps from a blueberry farm and Mexican street corn where the corn is locally grown. Get a taste of the early Oktoberfest in California's Big Bear Lake, in Southern California. It;s starts on September 12th and ends on November 8th . They have everything from bratwurst to spaetzles and  of course, giant, pretzels along with apple strudel with caramel sauce. Up in Northern California by San Francisco there is the Pacifica Fog Festival the weekend of September 26 and 27th. Try the famed Fog Cutter cocktail -  a Heady mix of rum, gin and brandy are splashed with lemon juice and stirred.There;s also Witch craft cookies and Shire shack dishes there too.

It;s festival  time thorughout the US. Go to one of these or one in your neighborhood.Enjoy the good weather and good food.

Is The Dixie Lee Bakery Gone

 The Dixie Lee Bakery was on e of those must stops along the Raritan Bay area of New Jersey People went to Keansburg Amusement Park and Water Park and then the bakery for cookies.Locals bought their famed onion rye bread that was even good hard and stale.It lasted with the original family then sold them closed just recently.

I found out about its' closing  yesterday aduring a day at the shore.I wanted to see if their quarter pound of their yummy chocolate dipped butter cookies had gone up in price. Imagine my surprise when I read that the bakery closed in June. There was shock and surprise. The Dixie Lee has been a staple of the area since 1937 meh the original owners opened it in 1937.The Slovenc family started it , naming it after Bing Crosby's wife at the time Dixie Lee. For decades and generations family went there after mass at nearby St Ann,.s Kids love the Cookie Monster cupcakes while adults loved the checkerboard cakes and croissants.Dixie Lee was responsible for cakes from birthdays to probably weddings. They were there. Always. They caught the eye ,including myself , of visitors to the Bayside city.I fell for the butter cookies dipped in lush dark chocolate and  covered in sprinkles. The big cookies were excellent too, every bite buttery and sugary - and satisfying.I bought my Mom's graduation seven layer cake along with that incredibly delicious onion rye bread. That last made for excellent sandwiches and was great slathered with butter.

Then The Slovenc's retired with he kids and grandkids not wanting to take over. In 2022 the famed New Jersey chef David Burke took over. He created restaurants throughout the state , New York and Floritda, I had hoped that he would continue on with the Slovenc';s recipes and charm. I had met him during a visit there.He was in the middle of a tantrum , going on about his pastry chefs. His assistant ,Jake, was much more helpful even agreeing to an interview for this blog.. The brownies and breads remained the same, along with the butter cookies. He did add the fancier macarons which would probably would have been better off in a little shop at Long Branch or in a fancy French bakery in Red Bank.There were also tee shirts and baking lessons offered.Is this part of a typical bakery ?No.  That probably was his first mistake. The second was changing recipes people grew up on. That;s when many, according to their  Facebook posts went to bakeries in nearby towns. Customer traffic dwindled. There was slowly no more trade. Chef Burke's possession lasted  only four years. There is hope with Anthony Rotondo , from Plainview who wants to buy the bakery and return the Dixie Lee to its' former glory.

Is the Dixie Lee poised for a resurrection. SO many hope so. Bring back this grand bakery and all the great recipes with it.

Desserts for Still Hot Weather

We're still in summer .That means a hot kitchen. Yet many are craving desserts , sort of an upcoming nod to fall where home baking resumes. The best bet is go the easy route.Don;t heat up the kitchen too much,

Again Dave Tanis tapped into this in Wednesday;s New York Times Wednesday Food section.He create a blackberry napoleon iwt fresh blackberries and easy to defrost frozen puff pastry. The puff pastry is put into the oven while a lemon curd for the filling  is made on the stove top.This is an easy cook, similar to sabayon where eggs sugar and salt are remixed together with lemon zest.Once this is cooked this is blended with whipping cream and confectioner's  sugar.Its the layered on the cooled and split puff pastry along with the blackberries to create a sandwich.You can do the same with ice cream and any kind of sauce, Think chocolate ice cream with strawberries and a bit of chocolate sauce or vanilla ice cream with caramel and  air fried toasted almonds. The puff pastry can also be the base for a fancy strawberry shortcake,Just layer the berries with whipped cream(or even Cool Whip) if you don;t want to fuss.You can also create a quick chocolate mousse with Cool Whip and chocolate pudding mixed together. Layer this on puff pastry for an elegant quick dessert.

Ice cream pies ,cakes and cupcakes are all still great right now.They're the perfect send off party cake too, for kids heading off to college . Have a good silicone pan that's easy to take the cake out of. (Amazon has a good array of them)It starts with a good crust - name Nabisco chocolate wafer cookies These are crushed and mixed with melted butter or margarine. The crust can be layered two or three times throughout the cake.Then add whatever flavors the future college student's favorite flavors. Think a mocha latte  pie or cake.Start with the chocolate crust. Then add a layer of chocolate fudge and fill in the mold with softened coffee ice cream.Layer with more chocolate crumbs and then spread a layer of whipped cream or Cool whip on top. You can just add puffs of Reddi Whip too for a fancier cake or pie.This can  be done with ice cream cupcakes too. Use silicone cupcake molds (again you can get these on Amazon). Use the same technique that you would for the pies and cakes. You can also do a fun surprise layer of M&M's chocolate chips or even crushed toffee.Top with a swirl on Reddi Whip and top with sprinkles or cherries.

Desserts can still be made.Yet make them easy during these still hot days. It;s a simple way to enjoy having a sweet treat 

It's Still Hot Take It Easy

 No matter what the ads and stores say  it's still summer. That means there are still hot muggy days and nights. What does that mean - don't go wild with cooking  Take it easy with easy recipes that require zeo or little cooking,

This is what Dave Tanis write about in the Wednesday Food section of the New York Times.His recipes inclice deviled eggs ,shrimp cocktail and potato salads but there are many more recipes t make when the temps are still high.Mr. Tanis has his devilled egg recipe with serrano chilis and lime juice along with softened butter instead of mayo for the stuffing. You can easily make traditional ones, with just mayo egg yolk, and a bit of paprika. Some recipes call for pickled juice or pickle relish , but that's up to you. If you're hard boiling eggs then also make them for a simple egg salad. Most people think that egg salad  makes for a great lunch but you can also use it for dimmer. Stuff it between a croissant or brioche for an fancy meal . It can as be used for stuffing tomatoes . Egg salad is usually made with just chopped hard boiled eggs and mayo. You can add mustard and scallions for color and variety too. Sliced hard boiled eggs are great in salads ,especially salad Nicoise  where you can also put tuna, green beans grape tomatoes and anchovies. Omit the lettuce if you're leery about using it.

Mr Tanis also has a green shrimp salad. His is made with salsa Verde, His sauce has tomatillos , cilantro and a crushed jalapeno for color and flavor. There also red onion and red pepper to spike it. Yet cold shrimp is just good with a simple shrimp cocktail sauce. You can buy it or make it . The recipe calls for ketchup, horseradish, hot sauce and lemon juice blended together.A Japanese shrimps sauce is a different way of enjoying cold shrimp.Mix mayo with white sugar, melted butter  and rice vinegar with paprika and garlic powder.It'll be a light orange color (sort of resembles French dressing. A shrimp salad  sandwich is also an easy way of making a light yet delicious dinner. Again like the egg salad mayo binds it together. Add minced bell pepper, green onion and celery for crunch and flavor. Lemon juice gives it a bright tangy under flavor  You can also stuff tomatoes with it. Mr. Tanis also has potato salad.This is much more filling thanks to the addition of tomatoes The potato salad is made first then the cherry tomatoes are added. Cumin and nigella seeds are added for flavor. Keep in mind that avocados also work in  this kind of salad. They make a creamy counterpart to the potatoes.

It' s still summer. It;s still hot. Take it easy when you cook. 

Budget Shopping Budget Eating

Grocery shopping is hard these days. The prices are still soaring.People are going without. Sometimes a ,guide is needed and luckily there is one. Can it help? Possibly ,

New contributor and NBC food reporter Kevin Pang wrote about saving money in yesterday's New York Times Wednesday section.He is a Chicago reporter living in the suburbs there with his wife and  their twn year old son. He and his wife Anne looked to the US Department of Agriculture for help.Their thrifty option, is the least expensive and is what SNAP benefits are based on.They also cut out their usually eating out twice a week, It was time for home cooking.There was also no impulse buying and cheaper options were taken.Their son Liam likes peanut butter and  jelly sandwiches. They had to switch out his favorite strawberry jam for the cheaper grape jelly.The $4.35 baba ghanoush for the $3.77 hummus. They did stick with their organic staples such as eggs cream milk and certain vegetables that are hard to wash.The Pangs chose wisely with the high price paid for meat was pork shoulder at $14.98.Dairy was a variety of different products but all were relatively inexpensive The same for bread and baked goods with a sourdough baguette for only $2.99.They sort of splurged on cheddar Sun Chips at $4.99 a bag..

Mr Pang and his wife also contributed recipes which are perfect for any kind of dinner. There are the tasty bacon cheeseburger meatballs It's a fun way to use chopped meat along with adding favorites like crispy bacon and shredded cheddar.The sauce is a blend of condiments and sounds like McDonald;s special sauce with its' mix of ketchup ,mayo mustard  Worcester sauce and relish. There is also chorizo amatriciana that has the zing of spicy sausage. The sauce also has onion crushed tomatoes olive oil and red pepper. Garlic also gives it flavor.Everything is finely diced and sauteed until the onion turns translucent. The sauce is added  a long with a pinch of sugar. Bucatini, that thick chunky pasta is used but try anything that was on sale.There were also dinners of fava beans with ricotta on a toasted baguette,There were also carnitas and  sesame soy chicken. One dinner was Japanese curry with a fried pork cutlet. Lunches were mostly leftovers from the night before while breakfasts were granola and yogurt or scrambled eggs.There was a breakfast tortillas which is always fun. There was enough variety that no one became bored with the menu.

Follow this guide for some ideas for low budget shopping and cooking. It won;t be limited.There is variety and fun recipes. It's a good way to save money and be creative.