so easy...roasted shrimp & tomatoes + a new video!

Last night was a little nutty between juggling my kid's dinner + bath + homework + bedtime needs, a friend stopping by for a (much needed) glass of wine, an 8pm meeting...and getting dinner made. This is one of my go-to recipes. It's just so easy. If you don't care for shrimp you can always make it with chicken instead. That's the beauty of this recipe, it's totally adaptable depending upon what flavors you like and what you have on hand.

Originally, a local friend Katharine passed this recipe along to me during one of those email recipe swaps. (Or maybe it was Siri? I can't remember, but one of these girls deserves credit!) The ingredients sometimes differ a bit, depending upon what I have on hand. When I wrote about it the summer of 2009, I happened to have these gorgeous multi-colored heirloom cherry tomatoes on hand and bell peppers. In the video, I had fresh mint, marinated artichokes and kalamata olives that I tossed in as well. Yesterday it was simply: cherry tomatoes, a large can of diced tomatoes, lemon zest & juice, fresh parsley, garlic, a drizzle of balsamic & olive oil, and Feta. And it was delish.

busy, busy-- but breakfast is made!

My head was happily swirling on the train home from the city, thinking of all of these recipes & ideas I wanted to share with you. And then, blogger (which powers "full plate") was down for 24 hours...it was way too gorgeous to sit inside...and a few new mealsinasnap videos were posted to YouTube. So, I got a little sidetracked. I will share a few take-aways from the nutrition forum, but today it's more timely for me to post one of my new videos since I just so happen to be whipping up a frittata and protein pancakes right now, in anticipation of a busy weekend ahead! The frittata I am making this afternoon includes asparagus, artichokes and kale-- but as you'll see in the video, you can use just about any veggie or meat you might have on hand for this fabulous make-ahead dish.



And, as you all know, the protein pancakes are one of my go-to make-ahead breakfasts. So, it was time for me to whip up a fresh batch of those to store in the fridge too. Here's that ("oldie but goodie") video as well, for anyone who may have missed the earlier posting of it. Enjoy these simple ideas for make-ahead breakfasts. I hope you have a fabulous weekend ahead.



If you cannot see the videos above, here's the link to the frittata one, and here's the link to the protein pancake one. Enjoy!

Baking on a Budget: The holiday project I filmed for Walmart

I get these Happiness Project quotes emailed to me each morning, which when combined with the Zen-y thought printed on my morning Yogi tea bag, usually get my day off to a good start. (Liz, maybe these nuggets are why I am able to stay sane this week, ha!) Anyway, today's quote was:

"The man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest."— Henry David Thoreau

which fits nicely with this morning's post. We all know tis better to give than to receive, but what do you do when your list is long and your wallet is thin? Instead of giving less, why not figure out a recipe that will thrill the recipients but is also reasonable. You may remember that last month, I was hired by Walmart* to come up with a homemade holiday gift idea that was under $5. I normally shop for ingredients at my local market, or Trader Joe's and Whole Foods so this was a fun challenge: to peruse their holiday offerings, think about some of my go-to recipes, and meld the two together. I ended up making my wildly popular cinnamon-chocolate brownies with chocolate ganache, which a month later is not what I ended up making for our teachers (since they had already gotten to enjoy a test run on these treats back in November!). But this is a fabulous recipe (no matter what time of year) to whip up if you have a cookie exchange, holiday party, or need for a reasonably priced hostess or holiday gift!! Here's that video, which is currently showing on Yahoo Shine:

*as in paid, which was nice! (But rest assured, I'll only take on paid gigs if they truly fit with what I am sharing with you all, and I'll always tell you.)

channeling my inner giada today...

I'm having a little mommy zen moment-- or rather, I am enjoying 10 minutes of downtime and some Parmesan pea dip from today's shoot-- before I launch into the nightly homework + dinner + bath triple header with my children. Today the guys from DBG filmed five more videos, which I know will please those of you who have been asking for more after watching the protein pancake and enchilada ones. We got all five recipes cooked from scratch and filmed in record time, just going to show that you absolutely can have fabulous meals in a snap. Stay tuned for the videos!

Wait a minute, is the crew making fun of my "wink" in the video graphics as they give the farro-butternut squash risotto a test run?

Simple and delicious morning - make ahead breakfast ideas

Mornings can be nutty. But that doesn't mean your family has to throw back a handful of cereal as you dash out to meet the school bus. With a little planning ahead, and maybe 1 hour of cooking each week, you can get a few recipes made ahead of time so that breakfast is ready to go on the busiest of mornings.

The photo above is our breakfast yesterday morning. Looks good, doesn't it? Particularly for a Tuesday morning! Total time spent making it Tuesday morning: about 5 minutes to plate and reheat the slices of frittata (which I had made on a lazy Sunday morning) and cut up an apple, and wash a few berries. I make a frittata at least once a week with a variety of veggies because it's so, so easy. Here is the original post that had my super simple frittata recipe.

Last week, I taught a cooking class for a group of young athletes. The topic was "healthy breakfasts" so they can be at peak performance at school, and at their meets. After hearing from so many friends that their kids are "picky eaters", or "they definitely won't try this or that", I was thrilled that this group of kids not only tried-- but relished-- each of the recipes we made together, including a veggie filled frittata. So, I encourage you to give that recipe a try. My go-to protein pancakes were another major hit at that lesson. The kids topped them with applesauce, berries and kept coming back for more. Since I am short on time to do in-person lessons right now, here's a video of the protein pancake recipe in action. Enjoy!

I'm a movie star...well, sort of. Here's to my first cooking video!

I know most of you moms out there are probably spinning at this point in your children's day off of school. So, feel free to pour yourself a glass of something delicious and settle in for a few minutes of entertainment! While I don't love seeing myself on film, I have to admit that this little project I am working on with Chad over at DBG has me excited. Here's the first video we shot. I'd love to hear what you think...