What's for Dinner? Briam,Macaroni and Cheese, Meatloaf, and Cheesecake Marble Brownies

Above is my Summer comfort foods dinner. Our family loves macaroni and cheese, but it wasn't until I made this recipe for Baked Macaroni and Cheese from Alton Brown, that I told myself, even though it's more expensive than Kraft Macaroni and cheese, there is no comparison in how good it tastes. It really is a comfort food.

My husband loves vegetables, and I get tired of broccoli, and green beans, when yesterday Ms. Cellenia posted about Briam a Greek side dish of roasted Summer vegetables. I'm not a huge fan of eggplant and tomatoes, but when roasted in beef broth and olive oil with garlic, it becomes a very satisying and very healthy side dish.

What can I say about meat loaf, as a child growing up there was something about meatloaf I just didn't like. Most of my dinners I use ground beef, beef stroganoff, enchiladas,spaghetti with meatballs, but meatloaf is one of those versatile dishes, that you can add anything to ground beef to make it. In mine I used eggs, seasoned bread crumbs, parsley, dijon mustard, ketchup, worchestire sauce, salt and pepper and onions.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe has the best of both worlds, Cheesecake, and Brownies. What dessert can be better than that. Here's the recipe from Epicurious.com Cheesecake Marbled Brownies.

See if you can eat just one!

Blog Review~La Tartine Gourmet

Besides showing beautiful photos of food, Beatice the author of La Tartine Gourmet ,shares with her readers her original recipes, tips on what she does while she prepares her creations, and some very useful cooking information. It is no surprise her blog won the 2006 Best Food Blog Award.
Take a look at this recipe for her Cheesecake-Marble brownies. They look sinfully delicious. Looking for something a little more healthier, then this post Summer and it's Gifts will give you a feast not only for your eyes, but good for you too.

Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less

Mark Bittman of the New York Times is brillant. Just what I've been looking for some FAST, EASY Ideas for Meals. Here is his article, Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less . Some of the ideas that caught my attention,

#14 Put a few slices of chopped prosciutto in a skillet with olive oil, a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and a bit of butter; a minute later, toss in about half a cup bread crumbs and red chili flakes to taste. Serve over pasta with chopped parsley.

#28 New Joe’s Special, from San Francisco: Brown ground meat with minced garlic and chopped onion. When just about cooked, add chopped spinach and cook, stirring, until wilted. At the last minute, stir in two eggs, along with grated Parmesan and salt and pepper.

#76 Make a thin plain omelet with two or three eggs. Sauté cubes of bacon or pancetta or strips of prosciutto until crisp. Cut up the omelet and use it and the meat to garnish a green salad dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

When we were kids growing up, my mom only bought us the healthy for us cereals, like Cheerios, Rice Krispies, Grape Nuts. We didn't get to eat any of the 'FUN' cereals like 'Cookie Crisp' or 'Cocoa Puffs', and although I really did not like Raisin Bran when I was little, as I got older I really didn't care for the Bran Flakes, but I loved the raisins. Surprisingly my son loves Raisin Bran, and I like anything with 'clusters', so when I was asked to review Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters, I thought we'd make a good family to review it, being that Josh is a Diabetic, I wanted to compare Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters to Raisin Bran.

First I compared them nutritionally.

Kellogg's Raisin Bran (1 cup): 190 calories, 1.5 grams fat, 7 grams fiber, 19 grams sugar, 350 grams sodium, 5 grams protein.

Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters (1 cup): 170 calories, 1 gram fat, 11 grams fiber, 13 grams sugar, 250 grams sodium, 4 grams protein.

With Josh's Juvenile Diabetes, I try and (as hard as it is sometimes) limit the amount of sugar he eats to under 15 grams of sugar. The Winner, Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters, it has less fat, more fiber, less sugar, and less sodium.

As far as taste goes, honestly I liked Fiber One's bran flakes better. They are not as big and they are not as rough textured as Raisin Bran's. They are sweetened with honey. I also noticed the raisins weren't covered in sugar. I would have liked to have seen more raisins. Raisin bran clearly has more raisins. And when I think of 'clusters' I'd expect them to be bite sized. The clusters were really good, but much smaller than I anticipated. I definitely prefer this to Raisin Bran, simply because I like these flakes, and I like how they taste, just sweet enough.

Overall, our family, really liked Fiber One Raisin Brand Clusters cereal and as an added bonus, it's a great way for my family to add more fiber to their diets.

* * *

The product was sent to me for review. I received no payment for this review, other than the box of cereal.

Home made Strawberry Ice Cream

Nothing tastes better on a Hot Summer's Day, than a deliciously cold scoop of creamy ice cream. Just one spoonful of ice cream can instantly cool you down and make you feel better. And ice cream is fun to eat. As kids we would eat it as fast as we could, before it all melted, and hoped we didn't get a brain freeze. You can eat ice cream in a cone or in a cup, with sprinkles or chocolate syrup. Ice Cream is synonymous with Summer Fun. I like a big scoop of vanilla ice cream covered in hot fudge. But today the kids and I had fun making homemade strawberry ice cream. First I went and bought a Cuisinart ICE-30BC Pure Indulgence 2-Quart Automatic Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, and Ice Cream Maker .When I got home with it, I never expected the thought of homemade ice cream would give this family a little pick me up from this awful heat wave. Then I went to the store to pick up strawberries, cream,a lemon, and some sugar.

Katelyn had fun as I was cutting off the green tops and slicing the strawberries. Katelyn was doing this, " Put one in the bowl, put one in my mouth, put one in the bowl, put one in my mouth."

After the strawberries were all sliced, I then added a 1/2 cup of sugar and the juice of one lemon over the strawberries, and set them back in the fridge to macerate for a few hours.

After taking the macerated strawberries out of the fridge, I strained the juice and set it aside. Then I divided the sliced strawberries in half, putting one half in a mixing bowl. Then I mashed them.

To the mashed strawberries, I added the strawberry juice, one cup of sugar, 2 and a half cups whole milk, and 2 cups heavy whipping cream.

After mixing everything together, I then pour the strawberry ice cream mix into the ice cream maker, and use according to the manufacturers instructions.

About 5 minutes before the ice cream became solid I added the set aside other half of sliced strawberries.

Grab a spoon! Hope you enjoy it! Tastes better than any store bought ice cream for sure!

Menu Plan Monday: Fourth of July edition

With Wednesday being the Fourth of July, I thought it would be fun to make some great grilling menus.
Monday-Cilantro Grilled Chicken Breast with Balsamic Grilled Vegetables
Tuesday-Bourbon Barbecued Pork Ribs and Deviled Potato Salad
Wednesday-Happy 4th of July

Beer Brats and Marinated Grilled Steak
Grilled Corn
Baked Grilled Potato
Strawberry Ice Cream Sodas

made with Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

Thursday- Wrigley Field Chicago-Style Grill Cart Hot Dog with Waldorf Coleslaw and

Chocolate Dipped Frozen Bananas

Friday-Key West Grilled Salmon
Saturday-Grilled White Corn Taco with Bbq Pork Loin, Roasted Red Bliss Potatoes and Tomatillo-Red Pepper Relish
Sunday-BBQ Chicken Quesadillas