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Showing posts from May, 2018

Memorial Day Getaway: Chefusion and the Creamery, Green Bay, WI

Our nephew graduated this weekend from Libertyville HS in Illinois; it was a very large school in a Chicago suburb.  510 graduates!  Quite a difference from the 50 or so we have commence each Spring in Hancock, MI. We had Chicago Deep Dish pizza from Lou Malgnatti's (yum) for the Grad Party and on our way back home, we spent a night in Green Bay and visited with Ron's sister for a day.  Downtown Green Bay seems to be awakening somewhat; there are several restaurants and shops on the river and also, many of the previously abandoned and boarded buildings in the downtown streets have been re-purposed as trendy apartments and eateries. We went to a small plates restaurant and  Jazz club.  The place was called Chefusion.  It is an eclectic and nicely upscale place located on the 2nd floor on an old downtown building.  The food and atmosphere were great.  I had a three course small plate meal consisting of choices of first course, entree and dessert.  I also added lobster bisque

Sole with Soul - Fab Foodie Mama is Eating Clean

I have blogged quite a bit in 2018 so far.  I don't create a post unless I have something to say or something to share that I think others may enjoy.  But gladly, I have been cooking quite a bit and have been adventurous in my cooking (and eating), therefore, I have been much more prolific recently. I hope you are enjoying these easy and delicious recipes.  What you will see here is another meal from Sun Basket, titled:  Sole with Green Harissa and Warm Carrot-Celery Salad.  It was a very nice combination of flavors,  from the spicy harissa to the sweet currants in the warm carrot and celery salad.  I can tell when I am eating clean;  I have energy after eating instead of feeling bogged down.  This is another keeper.  I'd like to make again with trout or walleye, some of the great fish options native to Lake Superior.  The harissa sauce is common in North African cooking and is a chili pepper condiment that can be used on almost everything.  It is made from cayenne, parsley,

#Sun Basket Meal Bags Have Arrived

I am really enjoying the meal boxes that I have been getting over the past several weeks.  I love the fact that food in not wasted; they only give you what you need to make the number servings you are preparing, and the variety of options has been quite appealing.  Foodie Mama is a FAN! This week, I tried Sun Basket.  (In previous weeks I tired Hello Fresh and Home Chef).  Sun Basket markets itself as more of an organic choice over the others.  All of the fish is wild caught and all of the produce is organic.  The two dishes I have tried so far have been ones I would definitely make again - or order again in my next Sun Basket Box! Sun Basket also allows you to choose from any of the meals form any type (vegetarian, pescetarian, meat lovers, gluten free, low carb, etc) so I liked that versatility, also, you can select as little as 2 meals per week, whereas the others I have tried, the minimum was 3 per week.  One more plus was Sun Basket allows you to change your protein (eg:  scal

Spicy Asian Cod Cakes - Thanks, Home Chef!

I made another Home Chef meal today for Mickayla and I.  Spicy Asian Cod Cakes.  They were excellent.  I had never made and fish cakes or crab cakes before.  These turned out delicious, except that I burned the green beans (so I substituted spinach in my version).  Some of the spice packets and mixtures didn't provide ingredients so I will guess here at the exact contents. As I sit here writing this, about 20 minutes after eating, the noodles have almost immediately made me tired.  Ugh.  When will I learn?  But it tastes so darn good!  I could have left out the pasta and been satisfied with just the cod cakes.  I will definitely make these fish cakes again, perhaps next time with a honey mustard or lemon based dipping sauce instead of the Asian flavoring and skip the noodles. Next week I will try a vegetarian Sun Basket brand meal kit. Spicy Asian Cod Cakes from Home Chef (2 servings) Ingredients: 4 T Olive Oil 5 oz Spaghetti 4 oz Green Beans 12 oz Cod (thawed, if

Not Rocket Science...plants just make you feel better

I have blogged a lot recently about trying to eat more of a plant based diet.  I've been going along pretty consistently for a couple of months now and it is amazing how much better I feel when I eat mainly vegetables, lentils and (mainly gluten free) grains. I have SO much more energy when I don't load up on the meats, the refined carbs and all the sugars I had been eating for so long.  Don't get me wrong, I do indulge.  In fact, I turn 51 on Friday and will make sure I have a piece of birthday cake.  My goals will simply be to EAT MOSTLY PLANTS and to GET LIGHT! I made up this soup recipe this morning because I was craving something spicy and also wanted to have a vegan day.  This really was made from things in the cupboards.  Alter as you like.  It's just soup, you know.  Have fun with it. :-) GET LIGHT!    - Foodie Mama Spicy Bean Soup Ingredients: 2 T Olive Oil 1 Large Yellow Onion, chopped 3 Cloves Garlic or equivalent minced garlic 1 Can Diced

Home Chef Food Box - Meal #1:

Home Chef is another one of the food box companies and I just tried my first meal today.  It was a very comforting dish called:  French Onion Shrimp and Grits.  This was quite good.  I would say that if I were to make it again, I'd reduce the amount of grits to about 1/4 cup (vs about 1 cup)  and use larger shrimp.  The grits seem to overtake the meal, and I'd prefer the shrimp to be the star.  It still was quite tasty, and as I said, so comforting. Enjoy!  - Fab Foodie Mama French Onion Shrimp and Grits Ingredients: 6 oz Butter 6 Chives 1 Shallot 8 oz Shrimp 1/2 c Instant Grits 2 oz Grated Parmesan 1 oz White Cooking Wine 2 oz Sour Cream Directions: Bring 2 1/2 cups water to a boil in a small pot Peel and halve the shallot.  Slice into thin strips Mince chives Pat shrimp dry, and season both sides with 1/4 t salt and a pinch of pepper Stir grits into boiling water reduce heat to low and stir constantly until smooth (5-7 minutes) Stir in Parmesan, 3

Food Mama loves Cinco De Mayo

I have been enjoying my food boxes.  I had my second week of Hello Fresh and now have also tried Home Chef. In observance of Cinco de Mayo, which also happens to be my Mom's birthday, I made some Crispy Chickpea Tacos from Hello Fresh.  This dish was good.  It lacked some of the flavors from herbs and spices I came to expect from Hello Fresh, but good nonetheless.  The favorite thing for me about this recipe was the roasted chickpeas.  This was a nice, fresh dinner for 2. To all my followers, I am now fabfoodiemama.com as well as foodiemama.net.  I just got another domain name.  Sadly, foodiemama.com is too expensive for this mama to fork out the dough (ugh, sorry, but I love puns) Crispy Chickpea Tacos Ingredients: 1 can chickpeas (~13.4 oz) 1 T Southwest Spice Blend - included with the box; I can't tell exactly what is in here but you could experiment with some chili powder, salt and pepper or google it 1 Bell Pepper 1 Red Onion 2 Scallions 1 Lime 1 Avocado

Love the Grilling Cheese - Saag Paneer

When I received my Hello Fresh box a few weeks back there was a great recipe titled: Grilled Cheese and Veggie Jumble That dish was just delicious and it was the 'grilling cheese' which was the best part.  I had not used it before in any of my cooking and after looking on line, it is just paneer, the Indian cheese that I love in my favorite dishes Saag Paneer and Palack Paneer.  I had never tried to actually make either of these recipes, but I decided to give it a try.  Rachel and I found a recipe for Saag Paneer on AllRecipies.com and gave it a go!  We had it with naan and stuffed yellow peppers.   You can modify the heat to your liking. Saag Paneer Ingredients: 12 - 16 oz fresh spinach 1/2 lb paneer, cubed into 1-1 1/2 pieces* 3 T oil (vegetable oil or olive oil) 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 1 roma tomato, diced 2t ground cumin 1t ground ginger 3 cloves garlic, minced 2t garam masala 1 t tumeric +/- 1 T sambal oelek (or other hot chili paste),  or 1/2