Three cheese and Tomato Tortellini

Hello Readers,

So, I am at it again, searching for new recipes to feed my boys and avoid the towering cholesterol levels found in restaurant food and decided to improvise upon one I found on cooks.com. Normally, I would buy a pack of Buitoni three cheese tortellini and boil the pasta and then just add the instant Buitoni pesto sauce found in the same dairy section, but recently Chafeek expressed his dislike for it. And so, I had to find a new way to cook tortellini. After searching all over the Internet, I stumbled upon one that looked enticing, but it called for 45 minute preparation time and 30 minutes of cooking time. I only had 30 minutes to cook and prepare before I had to pick up Layth at 12. Given the alluded time I had to cook, I decided to use my own sense of taste and conjure up something that would at least be edible. I was worried it would just be one disastrous science experiment, but thankfully, the boys the liked it. Well...at least Chafeek liked it!

Ingredients:

• 1 Package of Buitoni Three Cheese Tortellini
• 1 Package of Organic Cherry Tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon of Basil
• 1/4 teaspoon of Oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon of Italian Seasoning
• 2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 can of Hunts Diced Garlic Tomatoes

Preparation:

First, you should prepare the pasta as you normally would: Bring to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 11-13 minutes or until the pasta is tender. I usually add a teaspoon of salt to avoid the pasta from sticking. Meanwhile, cut the cherry tomatoes into small circular pieces and add them into a skillet. Once you have added the cherry tomatoes, empty the diced tomatoes and add them as well as the spices and allow them to skillet until they are soft in tender. I allowed my nose to be the determinant factor, once I could the smell the sweet aroma of spices, I knew the sauce was just about done. It probably took no more than fifteen minutes. As they skillet, drain the pasta and stir in the two tablespoons of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The sauce should be done by then, and just add that into the pasta and mix in. I promise you, it does taste good!

Fassoliya- Layth's new favorite dish!

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday, I decided to prepare one of the first dishes I learned to make since becoming " Layth's mom" that being fasooliya. In other words, stewed beef with green beans marinated in tomato sauce. Normally, this dish is made to be served with rice, but my little lion, decided to eat it as a soup. He couldn't get enough of the soft green beans, which did not surprise me since he loved pureed green beans as an infant. A dish I expected to last us the course of two days, ended up finishing that evening! I was pleased, but a bit annoyed, because it meant I had to cook today! Since many of you already know how to prepare the dish, I am just going to simplify the preparation.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of Hunts Tomato Sauce
• 1 Vegetable Bullion Cube
• 1 pack of frozen cut green beans
• 1 pound of stewed beef
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teas of pepper
• 3-4 cups of water ( enough to cover the meat)

Preparation:

First, you will need to add the meat and pour enough water to cover the meat. Bring the meat to a boil, which usually takes 10-15 minutes. Upon boiling, reduce the heat to medium and allow it to sit for 45 minutes ( this gives time for the meat to soften). The key to this recipe is to make both your meat and vegetables soft. As your waiting, this gives you time to do other things, such as, read a book or in my case, play with Layth!!

Thirty minutes later, add the vegetables, the tomato sauce, and the spices, and allow it to sit for thirty minutes. Depending upon the time, I usually bring everything to a boil before reducing the heat to medium. But today, I had to shave fifteen minutes off the recipe because I started it late, and just kept everything on medium. Worried it would not taste as good, I had my own apprehensions. However, Layth had three servings of the stew, and that is when I knew those extra fifteen minutes did not matter.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Good Afternoon!!

I am in such a happy mood today, I can't help but want to spread the joy. After a week of constant tornado threats and severe thunderstorms, the sun finally showed itself today. It felt almost uplifting, because the dark and grey skies were beginning to dampen my mood. The tornado sirens were becoming all too familiar, watching the weather reports was simply a waste of time because they were all reporting the same thing, and leaving the house felt like a burden. But today, as I was picking up Layth, the sun began to show itself. And soon, by the time I had reached his school, it was no longer hiding behind the trees. I could not wait to take Layth out to the botanical gardens and spend the day in My BIG Backyard, because the Children's Museum was becoming a bit too repetitive. As soon as I walked into the building, there was Layth coming out to greet me with giant little arms. It was nice to see he was not napping, because I had big plans in store for him. Soon Layth jumped into my arms, and we got into the car headed for the botanical gardens when Chafeek phoned me and saying he will be coming home for lunch. As a result, our plans were delayed. But any opportunity for Layth to see Chafeek before 7:30 pm is always a treat, so we headed home.

After an hour at home, Layth pulled my hand toward the front door indicating he wanted to go out. And so, we were out. But rather than heading to the botanical gardens, we took another detour, to the zoo. As we were passing by it, Layth began pointing with his finger saying " this, this" indicating he would rather go there and once we drove into the parking lot, Layth began laughing hysterically implying he knew where we were at....

Two hours later, as we were heading to the other side of the zoo to see the wolves I see Layth's head tilted to the side indicating he had fallen asleep. My little man had exhausted himself between playing on the playground and visiting the animals. He, too, was happy to see the sun!

Bistro 110

Hello Readers,
After being absent for week, I'm back! The boys and I were spending the week in my beloved Chicago for Chafeek's ENT conference. And despite being there for business, I managed to have tons of fun! Layth, too, could not have asked for a better week: spending his days with mommy, his afternoons sightseeing between various museums and dinning with fellow residents. I do not know of many 23 month olds who would pass up an opportunity of being the center of attention; Layth certainly did not. He also enjoyed all the dining we did; particularly, Bistro 110. Speaking of Bistro 110, I remember it being my guilty pleasure after finishing my afternoon Water Tower classes. So when my friend Sanaz suggested it, I quickly agreed. And having not been there for five years, it certainly did not disappoint. I thought it was so good, I suggested it to my fellow residents who were looking for place to dine near Water Tower for lunch. However, I was so worried whether Layth would enjoy it, but my worries were soon over when he attacked his meal of Macaroni and Cheese. His child size portion was equal to the size of my adult lunch salad. In other words, their meals were not very big, but still too big for Layth. And so, as a result, I was able to enjoy a few bites myself. The cheese was so rich, but not too heavy, I did not feel guilty biting into it. I did not feel I was indulging in processed cheese as most macaroni and cheese dishes make you feel. Instead it resembled what you would see in Bethenny Frankel's, " Skinny Girl" cookbook; it was exquisite. So when the next time an opportunity comes knocking for us to go to Chicago, I'm definitely taking Chafeek there.