Dinner tonight was.... a real SUCCESS

Today we had a busy and fun day. Perla had an appointment to the dentist and than we hang out with a friend and her child. When we came home, we were both a little tired and lied to take a nap. I was concerned that I might not wake up on time to make dinner. But dinner was finished right when my husband walked in the door. And you know what he said? He said that he had smelled the food from downstairs (we are in the second floor). Well, I don't believe that he smelled it from that far but the house surely smelled great.
I had planned to make for today an eggplant dish. Here are some pictures of how it turned out and the recipe will be below the pictures.

Right out of the oven

My plate, Perla ate the same amount as me :-) hubby had double

Eggplant Parmesan

1 large globe eggplant

1 1/2 c  tomato sauce (I used a little bit more sauce, I wanted more layers)

1 c mozzarella

1/2 c Parmesan cheese

1/2 c whole wheat flout

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs lightly beaten

1/4 c milk

2 1/2 c soda crackers, crumbled (I didn't have crackers, so I used bread crumbs)

dash of pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Cut eggplant into 1/4-inch rounds. Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Now the eggs and milk in another bowl, and lastly the cracker crumbs and pepper in another bowl. now take an eggplant slice and dip both sides in flour mixture, then the egg mixture and lastly the cracker crumbs. Repeat with all the eggplant. Layer in a 9*13-inch glass dish. Te slices may overlap, but shouldn't cover each other completely.

Sprinkle each layer with tomato sauce mixture and Parmesan cheese. cover tightly and bake 30 to 45 minutes or until fork pierces middle sliced easily. Top with mozzarella and a little more Parmesan. Return uncovered to oven just until cheese melts. Serve immediately.

Tomato Sauce:

1/2 onion 

1 clove garlic

2 tbs green pepper, chopped

2 tbsp oil

1 bay leaf

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

2 c tomatoes (fresh or canned, but I used fresh)

1/2 c tomato paste (I used tomato sauce)

1 tsp salt

Saute the onion and garlic in oil until onion is soft. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for half an hour. Remove bay leaf.

I hope you enjoy it!

Warmly,

Juliana

Breakfast and dinner with the Hoxha's

If you were visiting our family today, this is what you would have had for breakfast and dinner. (For lunch we had leftovers from yesterday ;-))

Breakfast
Baked Spinach and Eggs
This breakfast was full of nutrients and protein, and kept us full for a long time. We also had some toast, olives and homemade yogurt (I will have to post the recipe for the homemade yogurt someday). It was way good and easy to make.
This recipe requires only three ingredients. You can find the recipe here. I changed the recipe a little bit. Instead of using straight spinach, I sauteed it with onions and garlic before baking it with the eggs. This way the spinach had more flavor.

Dinner

Wisconsin cauliflower soup

Don't get fooled by the name, this recipe is very easy and delicious. This will be a good way to incorporate cauliflower in your meal. Perla loved this soup. Click here for the recipe.

30 minute Homemade dinner rolls

I love homemade bread but I rarely make it because it takes a lot of time and I have never gotten it right. However, this recipe takes only 30 minutes and you can have delicious, warm dinner rolls to go with your meal. Click here to get the recipe.

Homemade strawberry jam

I had bought some strawberries for really cheap and wanted to make strawberry jam for more than a week, but was feeling kind of lazy and I procrastinated until today. But I finally made it. Something I love about homemade jam is that I know what is inside. Almost all store jams have corn syrup, and other ingredients I have never heard about. This recipe has only three ingredients, strawberries, sugar, and lemon. Click here for the recipe.

Well, I hope you would have enjoyed having dinner with the Hoxha's. Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what you think of our food.

Warmly,

Juliana

We heart salmon!

First of all, I want to give a little background about my love for fish. I grew up in a beach town. My father loves fish too. He would bring home fresh (sometimes even alive) fish, sardines, and shrimps several times a week. My mouth is watering now that I think of the fresh seafood I grew up eating. This week we decided to buy salmon. I tried the recipes  below.
P.S We were surprised to see how much Perla liked salmon. I gave her some salmon, avocado and rice (when I made the first recipe below), and she chewed them (or tried to) with her only two teeth. So cute! But she really liked them!!

Grilled salmon with avocado salsa

Ingredients

• 2 lbs salmon, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 tbs olive oil (I used light extra virgin olive oil)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp ancho chili powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• for the Avocado salsa:
• 1 avocado, sliced
• ½ small red onion, sliced
• Juice from 2 limes
• 1-2 tbs finely chopped cilantro (depending on how big of a cilantro lover you are)
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Mix the salt, chili powder, cumin, paprika, onion and black pepper together, rub the salmon fillets with olive oil and this seasoning mix
2. refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Pre-heat the grill.
4. Combine the avocado, onion, cilantro, lime juice, and salt in a bowl and mix well, chill until ready to use.
5. Grill the salmon to desired doneness.
6. Top with avocado salsa and enjoy!

Grilled Salmon with lemon, soy sauce and brown sugar

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pound salmon fillets
• lemon pepper to taste
• garlic powder to taste
• salt to taste (I used seasoned salt)
• the juice from two fresh large lemons
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup water (or apple juice if you have it)
• 1/4 cup oilve oil
• one large tablespoon of fresh chopped garlic

Directions

1. Season salmon fillets with lemon pepper, garlic powder, and salt.
2. In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, water, lemon juice and oil until sugar is dissolved. Place fish in a large resealable plastic bag with the soy sauce mixture, seal, and turn to coat. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
3. Preheat grill for medium heat.
4. Lightly oil grill grate. Place salmon on the preheated grill, and discard marinade. Cook salmon for 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

I hope you try these recipes and like them. Thanks for stopping by!

Warmly,

Juliana

Vegetarian for a week (part 2)

Last week, I posted two tofu recipes. This week, I have experimented cooking meatless on of my favorite dishes of all. LASAGNA!!! I love lasagna! I love any pasta, but lasagna has everything in it, cheese, sauce, ground beef, and more cheese. This time though I tried to make it a little bit healthier.

The first lasagna was a Vegetable Lasagna.

Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients

• 10 ounces, weight Lasagna Noodles
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 whole Medium Onion
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Diced
• 24 ounces, weight White Mushrooms, Chopped
• 4 whole Squash (yellow Or Zucchini), Diced
• 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
• 1/2 cup White Wine
• 1/4 cup Fresh Parsley, Chopped (more To Taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt (more To Taste)
•  Freshly Ground Black Pepper
•  1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 30 ounces, weight Ricotta Cheese
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
•  Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1 pound Thinly Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
•  Extra Parmesan Cheese, For Sprinkling

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and lay flat on a sheet of aluminum foil.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook for a minute. Add diced red peppers and saute for another minute or so. Add squash and mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Pour in wine, add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, and stir.

Pour in tomatoes. Use hands to squeeze/crush them. Stir to combine and let simmer for 20 minutes or so. Stir in chopped parsley.

In a separate bowl, combine ricotta, eggs, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

To assemble, spread a little of the vegetable/tomato sauce in a lasagna pan. Layer four cooked noodles in the pan, slightly overlapping them if necessary. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture on the noodles. Top the ricotta mixture with mozzarella slices. Spoon a little less than 1/3 of the veggie/sauce mixture over the mozzarella.

Repeat the layering two more times, ending with a large helping of vegetable sauce and a sprinkling of Parmesan.

Bake at 350 degrees, covered in foil, for 20 minutes, then remove foil and continue baking for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

The second recipe, omits pasta. It was a different kind of lasagna. I mean a lasagna without pasta, it's not really a lasagna. I guess for this reason my husband was a little bit surprised to see what was inside the lasagna, and honestly, he didn't end up liking it. However, I loved it and I think all lovers of sweet potato and quinoa will love it as well, because this is a Sweet Potato Quinoa Lasagna.

Sweet Potato Quinoa Lasagna

Click here for the recipe.

I hope you all like these recipes. And if you ever try any of them, please let me know if you like them or not.

I love your comments so keep them coming!

Warmly,

Juliana

Sunday dinner

Yesterday and today we had Stake Conference in our Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We got a new Stake Presidency! I enjoyed the talks a lot, or at least as much as I could hear with our baby not staying still for a second. Elder Gay of the Seventy spoke both days. Something that he said that stood out to me was "Go home and ask your husband/wife what you can do better, and then go do it without being protective". I feel like sometimes when my husband tells me that he didn't like something that I did, I become protective of my actions and refuse to do what he would like me to. So, I personally need to work on this. I need to hear without being overprotective. I want to do what he would like me to, not because he asks me, but because I love him and I want to make him happy.

Enough said with the spiritual thought, now I would like to share with you our Sunday dinner recipes. I like to experiment on Sundays, but usually on Sundays we invite someone for dinner, so I am always nervous about the food I am serving. But today I was pleased with how everything turned out.

For main dish we had Easiest-Ever One-Dish Chicken Tamales. Doesn't it sound delicious??? Well, it was!

Easiest-Ever One-Dish Chicken Tamales

Ingredients

• 1 pkg (8 1/2 oz) corn muffin mix (such as Jiffy) (I made my own muffin mix at home, you can find the recipe for it here)

• 1 can (14 3/4 oz) creamstyle corn

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 1/2 cup  milk

• 1 teaspoon  chili powder

• 1/2 teaspoon  ground cumin

• 1 pkg (8 oz) shredded taco cheese blend (such as Sargento)

• 1 can (10 oz) hot enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)

• 3 cups  shredded cooked chicken, from rotisserie chicken

• 1 cup  sour cream (optional)

• Lime wedges (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees . Coat a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine muffin mix, corn, eggs, milk, chili powder, cumin and 1 cup of the cheese. Spoon into prepared baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

3. Pierce casserole with a small knife in about 12 places and spread enchilada sauce over top. Scatter chicken and remaining cup of cheese over casserole; bake for 20 additional minutes.

4. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and cut into 8 squares. If desired, serve with sour cream and lime wedges.

For desert we had Banana Pecan Coconut Chocolate Chip Blondie. And yes, it really had all the ingredients listed in the name. You will find the recipe here.

Banana Pecan Coconut Chocolate Chip Blondie

Ingredients

6 tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup, agave syrup or golden syrup

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup mashed, ripe banana

1 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup shredded coconut

1/3 cup pecan halves, roughly chopped

1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 F (180 C). Place the butter into an 8-inch pie tin or brownie tin and put it into the oven for 5 minutes - just so the butter melts. Swirl the melted butter around in the tin to grease it and then pour the butter into a medium bowl.

To the bowl of melted butter, add the sugar, syrup, salt, egg, vanilla and banana. Beat the ingredients together and add the baking soda, flour, coconut and pecans. Fold in until evenly combined.

Pour the mixture into the greased tin and spread out in an even layer. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before slicing/scooping and serving!

I hope you all have an enjoyable week! Follow apearlinoyster in Instagram to see more recipes!

Warmly,

Juliana

Two dinner recipes for less than $10

I have been trying to stay consistent with the days I post on my blog, but this week it has been harder to stay on track. We own two half laptops. I say half because no one of them really works. Since my husband has homework, I wanted him to use the more functional laptop to do homework and to take with him to school. But to make up for that I am posting two very easy, cheap, and delicious dinner recipes. 

The first one is a Mixed Mushroom Rice. You can find the recipe here.

I made mine more like a risotto. The difference between normal rice and risotto is that for the risotto you add the water (should be hot) little by little and let the rice absorb the liquid before you add again (about 30sec) stirring continually. I topped mine with parsley, olive oil and feta cheese.

The second recipe is a Corn casserole. This is super quick and easy to make. You can find the recipe here.

As you can see, I have topped my casserole with french fried onions that I made myself. They are actually baked so they are not cooked with too much oil. This was so good.

Now, if you know us, you will know that we love onions and garlic. I cook almost anything with onions and garlic. Now a few facts about these "Healing Foods".

They might wreak havoc on your breath, but these two herbs, can do wonders for your health. In order to reap the benefits of fresh garlic. you have got to eat it raw, as any cooking dramatically reduces its disease-fighting activity. And don't eat the cloves whole, garlic's active constituent is created when the enzyme is released by chopping or crushing the cloves and exposing them to air for more than ten minutes. Studies show that both onions and garlic contain sulfur compounds that can help with diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. 

I would encourage you all to try and implement these two herbs in your daily cooking. Onions are easier, I think, to implement, but you can add garlic to everything you cook with onions. As for eating them raw, use onions on salads, and use garlic on tzatziki, hummus, salsa etc.

I hope you are staying warm, and are enjoying the weekend!

Warmly,
~Juliana~