(un)Happy Hour

What do you get when your 4 year old is overtired from a weekend of fun and doesn’t get enough sleep the night before.  A mommy who is ready to pull all of her hair out and in need of a (strong) cocktail.  My husband just got home from work and commented that our daughter sounded like a newborn!

Cilantro-Jalapeno Limeade. Photo from MyRecipes.com

On to the good stuff….literally!  I made the Cilantro-Jalapeno Limeade from Cooking Light.  It is absolutely delicious.  I doubled this recipe to make a full pitcher, so I cheated and used bottled Key Lime Juice.  I don’t have an electric juicer and I was not about to juice 20+ limes for a cocktail!!  I also only used 3 Jalapenos instead of 4 (for the double recipe).  I could taste the Jalapeno flavor but it was not enough heat.  So next time (and yes there most certainly will be) I will use the recommended amount of Jalapenos.

 

To turn this delightful ‘mocktail’ into a cocktail, I added a 3-count of Hornitos Tequila to each glass.  I also rimmed the glass with Williams-Sonoma’s Chili Margarita Salt.  Perfect!!  Time for round 2!!

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Homemade Ice Cream a 4 year old can make!

Earlier this week I came across a recipe for banana chocolate chip ice cream.  It sounded too easy and delicious to be true!  So of course I had to try it.

 

While I had a few hours to myself today while my daughter was at summer camp, I found myself aimlessly roaming the aisles of Target.  (Monday was Bed and Bath, then there was iParty, Kohls, and even the Christmas Tree Store–it’s been a $$$ busy week!)  Thanks to my ever so dependable “supah smaht” phone I was able to find all the ingredients at Target.
Emma and I spent a quick 10 minutes making the ice cream together this afternoon.  It is so easy my 4 year old was able to put it all together.  She chopped the bananas and chocolate and pureed it in the blender.

 

The only substitution we made to the recipe was to use Lindt’s Dark Chocolate Bar with Coconut.   I thought the dark chocolate and the coconut would give the ice cream a richer flavor and more depth.   Emma ate up her scoop in record time!

Grilled Yumminess

Yes, it has been forever since I have updated my blog.  No, that doesn’t mean my family has starved.  Unfortunately it does mean that for the last few months of school, my daughter and husband ate nothing better than a ‘mundane’ meal at best.

Now I am in summer mode and doing nothing more than grilling and hanging with my best 4 year old buddy!  This past weekend my parents were up from New Jersey and that means good food and lots of booze!!

On Friday we made Grilled Shrimp and Chorizo with Smoked Paprika Glaze.  It was beyond delicious!  The smoked paprika off-set the fresh shrimp perfectly.  The chorizo and bright cherry tomatoes complemented each other in texture and sweetness/spiciness.  My only change for next time….make more!

To complement this entree we made the Roasted Fingerling Potato Salad.  The potato salad contains no mayo which is perfect for me!! (mayo blugh!)  But some how the herbs and olive oil tossed with the potatoes tasted creamy enough!  I totally omitted the eggs (hard boiled eggs in the summer-no thanks!).  The tarragon was the brightest flavor in this salad.  For this salad I added 2 tablespoons of chopped tarragon.  Next time I will take 2 tablespoons of tarragon and chop those….my way was a bit much but still bright.

So as a promise to all my dedicated readers myself, I will attempt to post more of our Manthei Meals here in Foxboro!!