In an effort to keep things healthy post January 1, last weekend I decided to try a healthy spin on buffalo chicken wraps–one of my favorites. Whats better than a soft flour tortilla, crunchy fried chicken smothered in buffalo sauce, some mayo or ranch and crunchy lettuce…. amazing. So, how can we make this better?…
Category: Recipes
Baked Chorizo Chiles Rellenos
It’s the New Year and it’s time to try and reign in all the indulgent eating we did during the holidays. So now my focus is on making healthy meals that are still fun and delicious (otherwise I’d go crazy). I was craving some cheesy Mexican food so I found a way to satisfy my…
Homemade Jelly Donuts or Sufganiyot
Anyone who knows me is understanding of the fact that I don’t bake, mostly because I don’t like dessert, but also because I hate following precise instructions. Donuts are an exception to that rule. I love donuts. Especially warm ones that are right out of the fryer. This year our family decided we would make…
Real Deal String Bean Casserole with Home-Fried Crispy Onions
We have all eaten some version of string bean casserole. Campbell’s advertises their cream of mushroom soup around the holidays just for that purpose. You’ll even find a recipe on the back of the can. I happen to find canned creamy soup unappetizing so I set out last Thanksgiving to make string bean casserole from…
No Bake Protein Bites
We have all reached for the bag of potato chips, chocolate cookies or in my case usually goldfish, at some point during the day. You’re hungry or bored (or hungry and bored) and you didn’t pack anything healthy to bring to work. Or the case may be that any healthy choices are uninteresting or too…
Tuscan Braised Beef Short Ribs
This meal is something you would order in a restaurant and it would come with a hefty price tag. If you make it at home, it’s much less expensive and surprisingly not difficult. The beef short ribs are an inexpensive cut of beef and all you need is time to make it happen! On a…
Spiked Nutella Hot Chocolate
I’m not a big lover of chocolate in general but on a cold winter day, after shoveling some snow a cup of hot chocolate will soothe the soul. I saw a few recipes for nutella hot chocolate on pinterest and knew that my husband would love it. So, I did my research and came up…
Nanny’s Homemade Manicotti
Growing up, Nanny often made manicotti for the holidays and special occasions. Soft crepe like tubes, stuffed with ricotta cheese, topped with sauce and more cheese; it’s quite heavenly. Don’t confuse it with cannelloni which is more of a pasta type dough that is stuffed typically with meats and baked in a bechamel sauce. Each…
Mom’s Amazing Latkes
Latkes. Fried potato goodness dipped in sour cream and/or apple sauce. We eat them once a year on Hanukkah. They are worth every single calorie and every minute of frying. Of course if you are only cooking for a small family, it’s not that labor intensive. But if you are like us, and want to…
Homemade Ricotta Gnocchi with Pesto
Homemade gnocchi has been on my food bucket list for some time now and the potato version remains on the list, but I can now cross off the ricotta thanks to my Mom’s birthday dinner wish! We didn’t follow the recipe exactly because well I hate directions, and who has hours to wait for their…
Huevos Rancheros
Mexican breakfast eggs, as my husband calls it, or otherwise known as huevos rancheros is one of my favorite brunch selections. Some combination of eggs, beans, tortilla and salsa… yum. There’s endless ways to make this dish and mine is simply based off what I had in my kitchen. You can certainly make it for…
Baked Chicken Egg Rolls
I love coming up with game time food during football season. Something about the fall and watching sports on Sunday that really makes me want some delicious homemade food. I’ve never met anyone that doesn’t like an egg roll and I figured it was worth trying some out to see if you can make them…
Enchiladas Roja
Who doesn’t love some enchiladas? Shredded meat in a tortilla smothered with sauce and cheese? I’m in! I’ve previously posted a recipe for enchiladas verde and also a very healthy version of enchiladas. And this time I share with you my spicy roja sauce! And for the record, these aren’t terrible for you if you pay…
Crispy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
I love pumpkin seeds. And until you’ve made them at home, and have eaten them right out of a hot oven, you don’t know what you are missing. This past weekend my sister and her boyfriend were visiting and we decided to carve some pumpkins and make some delicious crispy, salty pumpkin seeds. She took…
Grilled Jalapeño Poppers
Finding delicious new appetizers to bring to a summer BBQ is always a fun challenge for me. It’s a risk trying something new, especially when bringing it to a large group of people but if you just have confidence in your ingredients it will turn out great! I’ve seen a lot of Jalapeno Popper recipes…
Baked Eggplant, Tomato and Mozzarella Stack
I was somewhat complaining earlier today because all I had in my fridge for dinner was an eggplant and I didn’t feel like going to the store. I ended my night however with a meal that Kyle said was in my top 5 of all time. (Woo hoo!) I was able to pick some tomatoes…
Portabella Pizza
Want to eat pizza without all the carbs? Instead of using dough, buy some large portabella mushroom caps. They can hold a lot of toppings, they cook well in the toaster oven (or on the grill) and they pair wonderfully with all the traditional pizza ingredients. Tonight’s mushroom pizza was one of my favorites so…
Turn Zucchini Into Linguine
I bought a new kitchen toy! And I am REALLY excited about it. For $35 you can make pasta out of vegetables, too! This is a great way to eat pasta guilt-free and perhaps for the Moms out there, a great way to hide vegetables from your kids! And if you are gluten free this…
Ancho Chicken Tacos with Red Cabbage Slaw and Avocado Crema
It’s taco night!! Kyle and I LOVE tacos. We have multiple restaurants nearby that serve fantastic tacos: Bodega in Darien, Molcajetes and Tacos Mexico in Norwalk and in Hartford, my coworkers and I love (almost) weekly trips to the Lucky Taco truck parked on Bushnell Park. Tacos are versatile, incredibly flavorful and the best part,…
Chicken Sausage, Veggies and Tomato Sauce Over Whole Wheat Pasta
What to do when you are craving pasta but you’re trying to be good? Instead of having the pasta as the feature of your meal, use a portion more equivalent to a side. I had some Whole Foods Italian chicken sausage in my fridge and all I could think about was putting it over a…
Cod Fish & White Bean Cakes
I want to say up front that the thought of a “fish cake” is really unappealing to me. But don’t let the name of this recipe prevent you from trying it. We bought some fresh cod at Whole Foods and wanted to make something different than your typical pan-seared fish with lemon and capers. While…
Italian Antipasto Crostini
In search of a new fun appetizer, I spent some time on Pinterest and Food Gawker this week. I was going to a coworker’s house for a BBQ after a 9 hole golf tournament so I needed something I could make in advance and pack in a cooler. I came up with a combination of…
The Real Deal Bolognese Sauce
A Father’s Day Inspiration… This isn’t your typical meat sauce. This isn’t your typical ground beef cooked in a bland tomato sauce. This is the real deal meat sauce; the cook all day Sunday sauce; the shredded, succulent, melt-in-your-mouth sauce that comes gently tossed in a fresh pasta like pappardelle. The idea of making this sauce…
Linguine with White Clam Sauce (Linguine alle Vongole)
For mother’s day I wanted to cook my mom a delicious dinner with the fam. We had trouble deciding what to make but once we did we were both very much looking forward to this meal after a long and unsuccessful day of shopping in New York. On our drive back to Connecticut we called…
Summer Grapefruit Cocktail
Looking for fun new cocktails for the summer? Step 1 is to get your hands on these ice molds which form into large balls. You can fill them with countless different juices, herbs and citrus, but my favorite is grapefruit. (You can find them on amazon or William Sonoma.) Simply carve out half a grapefruit…
Jewtalian's Recipes 